Companies like Offermatica have been espousing the virtues of Multivariate Testing (MVT) for years. At DigitalGrit, we were one of the early adopters of this type of technology which allows for advanced and accelerated testing of online advertising campaigns and websites. By using MVT we have seen quantifiable results that more than pay for themselves.
Not to be outdone, it looks like Google is getting into the act. They just announced the "beta" release of a new product called Website Optimizer which performs Multivariate testing. We haven't tried it yet so we can't say how well it works or how it compares to the tools currently on the market, but we welcome Google to the MVT "converted". Google's entrance into MVT should bring added exposure to the value of multivariate testing which will help marketers further maximize the ROI on their campaigns while improving the user experience.