I never have sold ads, but I've sold other things and have heard customers complain: "why can't your pricing model be easier to compare with our other vendors!" Don't you get the impression that Google has heard that too?

(Full disclosure: I was in Google AdWords 2008-2010. I did not work on the auction.)

Google's 2nd price auction started in 2003 or so and was a major factor in their success. Don't you think you ought to consider, not why it was bad, but why it lasted so long? Also, what the rationale was for it in the first place?

"Easier to compare with other vendors"?? Seriously? You were a small player, I assume, which hardly describes Google.

So I was. But AFAICT every vendor is a small player when the customer is a deep-pocketed big spender.

Second-price auction is good for advertisers, since you'll pay less than what you're willing to (e.g. if you win with a bid of $10 and the second price is $5, you'd pay $5). I get what you mean and I agree in most cases, but until now advertisers paid less than expected so it shoudn't bother that much.

Easier to compare but more expensive and more difficult to guess how much to bid, is probably not what customers are asking for.