Google launched a beta test of its pay per action option for AdWords. Advertisers who prefer to pay Google based on something their visitors do, like make a purchase or generate a lead, can do that with text, image, or the new format text link ads they just announced. Andy Beal called the new program “a threat to affiliate networks” and thinks businesses like Commission Junction now face a clear threat from Google.

Last July, a computer technician in Alaska accidentally wiped out information on a pair of hard drives belonging to the state’s Department of Revenue. That data just happened to have a file for Alaska thirty-eight billion dollar oil fund in its contents. Recent reports about the incident said the state spent over two hundred thousand dollars to recreate the file from paper documents. Despite the error and the expense to fix it, former Revenue Commissioner Bill Corbus told A-P no one got in trouble over the incident.

Mozilla released fixes for the Firefox browser, which people should see arriving through the automated update process. Due to the security fixes in place for this update, Mozilla recommended applying these updates as soon as possible. Users of the older one dot five version of Firefox should plan to move to the newer release, as updates for one dot five will end on April 24th.

Rumors of a Google phone may be slightly exaggerated. Google’s South-East Asia managing director of sales and operations, Richard Kimber, told attendees at a Sydney search conference that “At this point in time, we are very focused on the software, not the phone.” Kimber also called mobile phone advertising “extremely effective” despite its unique challenges.

Matt Cutts made a brief statement on his blog about the KinderStart case. He noted how the court granted Google’s motion to dismiss the case after almost a year, and closed it to further amendment by KinderStart’s attorney. Matt also said “I believe the judge also granted Google’s motion for sanctions against the plaintiff and the plaintiff’s attorney.” He declined to comment further on the case.

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