There are two forms of Cost Per Lead Advertising: buying web traffic on a CPL basis or buying Internet Leads on a CPL basis. The difference is subtle, but very important.
When buying web traffic on a CPL basis, the Advertiser hosts a form where the lead data will be collected. Vendors direct web traffic to the Advertiser’s form, and if the form is completed, the Advertiser will pay the vendor on a per lead basis.
When buying Internet Leads on a CPL basis, the vendor hosts the web form and the Advertiser purchases the Internet Leads of consumers that complete the form. The leads must be delivered to the Advertiser via some means of Internet Lead Delivery. This practice is referred to as Hosted Lead Generation.
We often hear Advertisers say they buy leads from search engines, however, they are actually buying web traffic on a Cost Per Click (CPC) basis. This traffic hopefully converts to an Internet Lead.