Proponderance of Pay Per Lead Programs Popping Up

One of our clients in San Francisco, a facial plastic surgeon found a fantastic new scheduling utility that would be perfect for his practice if using it weren't illegal in California.

The service, found at Genbook.com, is a very slick tool to add a "Schedule an Appointment Now" button to your Web site and your various online advertisements. It does everything you would want from an online scheduling utility. I'll be the first to admit it is one of the cleanest interfaces of its kind (there are several other companies offering similar scheduling services).

Where California physicians need to beware is their pay-per-lead, lead generation model. According to their Web site, participating physicians pay $2 per appointment when the booking is initiated from the physician's own marketing efforts (say from a Web site visitor or existing patient) but as much as $40 per lead when Genbook finds the lead for you.

We've written extensively on the dangers of pay-per-lead programs for California physicians in the past. I've submitted an inquiry to Genbook and I am waiting for their feedback.