Google in Alliance with Salesforce Marketing Software Maker
Google joined with marketing software maker Salesforce.com Inc. on Tuesday to say they have developed a new product that lets Google advertising be resold using Salesforce software, as part of a wide-ranging alliance.
Executives of Google and Salesforce, a pioneer in selling software as a Web service to businesses, told a news conference in San Francisco that Salesforce will resell the Google AdWords platform, acting as an official distribution channel aimed at small- and medium-sized business customers.
Financial details of that agreement were not disclosed.
As an example of how the deal will work, a user visiting a business's site using Salesforce and Google software could click on a Google-delivered advertisement and fill out a form asking for more information on the business's products. This customer data would automatically be piped into the company's Salesforce customer database for further action and follow-up.
"This is a natural partnership," Sheryl Sandberg, Google's vice president of global online sales and operations, said at the news conference, according to Reuters. "Both companies are in the business of helping small businesses succeed."
Beyond the reseller relationship, the two companies are also working together to give independent software developers a way to create hybrid applications that combine Salesforce's sales and marketing software with Google AdWords ad services.
The new Web-based software, run as mini-applications known as "gadgets" or "widgets" inside Google or Salesforce software, would be certified under a program run by the two companies.
Executives of the two companies said Salesforce Group Edition featuring Google AdWords is the first of several products that will result from the alliance.
News of the partnership, which had dribbled out in reports in the last two weeks, had sent Salesforce stock up more than 10 percent. Shares of Google, 2.3 percent higher on Nasdaq.
Financial details of that agreement were not disclosed.
As an example of how the deal will work, a user visiting a business's site using Salesforce and Google software could click on a Google-delivered advertisement and fill out a form asking for more information on the business's products. This customer data would automatically be piped into the company's Salesforce customer database for further action and follow-up.
"This is a natural partnership," Sheryl Sandberg, Google's vice president of global online sales and operations, said at the news conference, according to Reuters. "Both companies are in the business of helping small businesses succeed."
Beyond the reseller relationship, the two companies are also working together to give independent software developers a way to create hybrid applications that combine Salesforce's sales and marketing software with Google AdWords ad services.
The new Web-based software, run as mini-applications known as "gadgets" or "widgets" inside Google or Salesforce software, would be certified under a program run by the two companies.
Executives of the two companies said Salesforce Group Edition featuring Google AdWords is the first of several products that will result from the alliance.
News of the partnership, which had dribbled out in reports in the last two weeks, had sent Salesforce stock up more than 10 percent. Shares of Google, 2.3 percent higher on Nasdaq.
