October 9, 2009

Yahoo! Search Filters Now Shows Sponsored Ads

If you're conducting a search on Yahoo! and use one of the filters on the left hand side to narrow your search, you may now see Sponsored Ads. The ads will appear on filtered results for selected sites who are also Yahoo! advertisers. Here's an example.

Let's say you're searching for "argyle sweater." You filter the results by JC Penney. The ad that JC Penney placed for the larger "argyle sweater" search will also appear in the filtered search that display only pages from the company's website.

This won't change the bidding for placement in the original, broader search. But the competition will be nixed, once the filter is in place.

How do you get your site listed as a filter? Yahoo! isn't revealing the secret sauce, but says it uses many factors including listings' quality, popularity and user response to determine which sites get the filter treatment.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 5:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 29, 2009

Yahoo! Launches Ads on Mobile Search for iPhone and Android

With mobile search on the rise, it's no surprise that search engines wish to monetize the traffic. Yahoo! today announced that they're adding search advertising to their mobile search for iPhones, iPod Touches and Android devices.

One ad appears at the top of the search results and two ads appear at the bottom. Take a look:

Noticeably missing from the announcement is the inclusion of Windows Mobile phones, a curious exclusion in the wake of the recently struck Microsoft-Yahoo! search deal.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

July 29, 2009

The Yahoo-Microsoft Deal from Searchers' Perspective

So by now, you've probably heard about the Microsoft - Yahoo search deal. You may even have read my take that this will be good for advertisers. If not, go back and start there, so we're all caught up.

I got responses from several other search marketers saying the deal looked good from their side too. We'll be putting up a collection of industry responses later today. In the meantime, I wanted to look at the deal from a searcher perspective. Is it good for them too?

For most searchers, Google = search. They don't know or care about the fact that Microsoft just launched a search engine, and unless they have Yahoo as their home page (likely decided by their ISP), they don't have much use for Yahoo Search either.

Will a combined Microsoft-Yahoo search change any of that? Not likely.

"The deal is both good and bad for searchers. Bad in that there will be less choice. I personally prefer to have more options rather than less. Good for searchers in that Bing is actually a pretty good search engine," said Amanda Watlington, owner of Searching for Profit.

Basically, it's going to depend on just how good Bing is, and how good it will become, given the additional volume pumping through its platform. That volume should generate more relevant ads, since there will be more competition. It should also allow Microsoft to innovate with its algorithms faster, since it will have more data to work with.

Andrew Goodman, principal at Page Zero Media, agrees: "It's a good deal for searchers. Running a high-quality consumer search property is expensive and requires constant innovation. By consolidating resources these companies can focus on their strengths," Goodman said. "Microsoft has done a great job developing a consumer-oriented search engine in Bing. They may also have access to data from Yahoo that can help them to refine it."

Microsoft has proven with Bing and adCenter that they can not only keep up with Google, but actually improve on what's already out there in the marketplace. With a huge surge in traffic through those platforms, they should theoretically be able to improve on their ideas, refining their algorithms, adding features and improving relevance.

But, as has been said many times before, it's going to take something more than just "a little better" than Google to get searchers to switch. What may happen is that Yahoo-Microsoft becomes a more credible number-two. That in itself could be good for searchers, if only because it forces Google to innovate a bit quicker, given that it's nearest competitor will be quite a bit nearer than it's used to.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

May 7, 2009

Yahoo! Favicon Test Offers Opportunity for Increased Branding in Search Ads

Yahoo! is testing placing Favicons (that little graphic next to the URL or in the tab of your browser) next to search ads. This is an idea I LOVE because it creates a great branding opportunity without having huge intrusive display ads.

Additionally, while the "big three" search engines remain largely text-based, there are many visual based searchers out there. These little graphics can easily attract such searchers, and hopefullyl adding great value to the advertiser and customer alike.

What do you think of this test? Is this something that you would be interested in having as an option for your paid search ads? Let us know in the comments below.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

March 17, 2009

Yahoo Adds Targeting to Search and Content Ads

Yahoo has added some new features to its Sponsored Search and Content Match ads, including demographic targeting, ZIP-level geotargeting, and dayparting/ad scheduling.

As Carrie Hill wrote in her Small Business Marketing column today, demographic targeting is already available from Google and Microsoft, but it is a welcome addition to Yahoo's search ad platform and content network. Audiences can be targeted by age and gender, with a separate bid set for those desired groups.

Dayparting allows advertisers to schedule ads to appear by time of day or day of week. ZIP code-level geotargeting, which has been in beta since October, allows advertisers to select a ZIP code to target, or use Yahoo's dynamic mapping feature to select individual ZIP codes and ZIP codes surrounding them.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

January 28, 2009

Yahoo Tries to Defend Account "Optimizations"

For the last several months, Yahoo has been meddling in advertisers search advertising accounts. On those campaigns that it deems to be underperforming, Yahoo benevolently steps in and "optimizes" those campaigns. Yahoo tries to defend the program on the Yahoo Search Marketing Blog, but its explanation is insufficient.

According to "The Team," the intention is to "make our small- to mid-sized advertisers more successful," and "raise the performance of accounts that are experiencing issues like low-quality quality scores, low lead volume or low click-through rates."

Unfortunately, the way it's implemented has left many advertisers up in arms, for good cause. While it may be successful for inexperienced advertisers, it has caused plenty of distress for many advertisers.

Once Yahoo identifies an account that it believes will benefit from "optimization," it will go in and create new ads for existing ad groups, including multiple ads which it will test against each other. Yahoo will also add keywords that it believes will drive more targeted traffic.

Yahoo says it will notify advertisers of any changes within 24 hours, and the changes are reversible. But several advertisers have said they were never notified, or were notified several weeks later, after a client's budget was already spent on these new ads.

And many advertisers are criticizing the changes that are made, saying that ads were poorly written and new keywords were hardly relevant.

If the program were entirely opt-in -- before the changes were made -- it might be welcomed as a new option to try out. But they're making changes to an advertiser's account, without permission, and without regard for existing client limitations or strategies.

As it stands now, it makes many advertisers question whether they should subject their clients to an ad program that removes any kind of control from their own ads.

UPDATE: Here's some advertiser feedback from around the Web:

YSM, You Are the Liar!, Searching Beyond the Paid Yahoo Tries To Justify Automatic Account Optimization, Search Engine Land Yahoo Now Calling Us Liars Regarding Their Auto-Optimization of Campaigns, Search Engine Roundtable Yo Yahoo! The “Truth” is, Your Search Marketing Changes Suck!, Marketing Pilgrim Yahoo! Is Justifying Automatic Account Optimization!, PageTraffic Blog YSM - New Terms & Conditions, Search Engine Watch Forums Yahoo Is Stealing Your Money, Marketing Don

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

January 26, 2009

Yahoo! Search Marketing Updates Help Center

Yahoo! Search Marketing has updated its help center. Specifically, it has made the following changes:

Better organization and easier navigation
Stronger search functionality
Links to related information available
Single Page FAQ

On the front page of the Help Center, you'll find four main sections:

Advertise Online with Yahoo! - This section outlines the account sign-up process for prospective advertisers.
Managing Your Account - This helps walk existing advertisers through the campaign creation process.
Fine-Tune Your Account - Advertisers ready to manage their account to a higher level of performance can mine this section for info on optimization features and general strategies for managing to specific business objectives or by industry.
Learn Online - A repository for all training materials, tutorials, webinars and webinar summaries, and general education material to help raise your advertiser IQ.

What do you think about the updated Yahoo! Search Marketing Help Center? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

July 28, 2008

Yahoo Updates Ad Performance Reports for Sponsored Search Accounts

Yahoo has released updates to the ad performance reports for sponsored search accounts. First up, three columns have been added to the report. They are:

Ad ID column – This column displays your Ad's ID number.
Ad: – This column provides a visual representation of your ad, including its title, short description and display URL.
Destination URL

The columns are available in report downloads as well. Additionally, Yahoo has consolidated ad statuses into a single column.

The updates have been made across global markets and Mobile Sponsored Search.

What do you think of the updates? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 16, 2008

SEW Experts: Google's Path to Domination

And you may ask yourself, 'how did we get here?' Today's search landscape is a result of Yahoo trying to integrate large acquisitions too fast, while Google focused on core disciplines, small complimentary acquisitions, and smart build-outs. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Google's Path to Domination," Kevin Ryan points out that today, Microsoft is trying to do the same thing Yahoo failed at five years ago. Think it'll work this time?

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 11, 2008

Yahoo's Conversion Tips: Optimize, Navigate and Track

Over at Yahoo's Search Marketing blog, Marketing Communications Manager Roger Park is offering up tips on converting your search ads. He breaks down a bunch of best practices principles to three main steps: Optimize, Navigate and Track.

Optimize

Optimizing your landing pages is crucial to a profitable search marketing campaign. Park advises:

Have a "deep link" to a product on your site
Offer several contact methods
Online shopping carts should be secure and easily visible
Remove broken links
Have good server availability

Navigate

Park encourages site owners and developers to put themselves in the shoes of their web site visitors. I personally have found that many of my clients have a difficult time being able to do this. They're just too close to their business. So, it was nice that Park also served up some tangible tips:

Create an obvious pathway to the product that the visitor searched for
Don't have too many layers between the landing page and the end goal - no more than 2 clicks
If the end goal is sale, move non-commercial content below the fold

Track

Successful marketing campaigns are built on solid data. Consistently evaluate your data and tweak your paid search campaigns accordingly. Yahoo's conversion-only analytics tool can help you do that. The tool can help you analyze keywords, tweak landing pages, and improve under-performing ads.

What do you think of Park's advice? Anything else you would add to the mix? Share your ideas in the comments!

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 9, 2008

Where My Ads At? Yahoo Knows

Now you see it. Now you don't. If you conduct search advertising over at Yahoo, your experience may feel a bit like hide and seek at first. But Kastle Waserman, Communications Manager, managed to find the time and wherewithal at troubled Yahoo to answer this very problem on their Search Marketing Blog.

Our system is designed to check your click charges to see how close you are to your spending limit, and adjusts the display of your ads to ration your spending throughout the day. That way, your whole budget isn't blown in the first few hours that the ad is online.

So what do you do when your ads aren't displayed as often as you like? If your ads are not being displayed as often as you like, it may be time to take a look at how your spending limits and bids are set. To help get your ads displayed more often, consider increasing your spending limits. If that's not possible, there are ways to work within your means and still compete with the deep-pocket competition.

What do you think of Kastle's tips? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 25, 2008

SEW Experts: Yahoo's Suicide Pact with Google

Who cares if Yahoo outsources its search advertising to Google? You should. In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Yahoo's Suicide Pact with Google," Kevin Ryan asks, 'On what planet is having only one place to buy anything a good thing for competitive pricing?'

» Full story

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 20, 2008

Yahoo Releases Three Updates to Traffic Quality Center

If you notice a change to the volume of clicks on your Yahoo paid search account, the Traffic Quality Center can help you figure out what caused the change. Now, there are three new updates to help you figure out what's going on.

The three updates are:

click investigation

”Ask Ace“: A new question-and-answer column written by one of our traffic quality experts.
Animation on the homepage highlighting our stance on “bad clicks.” Refresh your browser to watch different versions.

Reggie Davis, VP of Search Quality wrote on the Yahoo Search Marketing Blog that there are several reasons why your clicks may fluctuate. Here are several examples he gave for a change:

Changes to an ad's ranking in search results
A change to the match type used for your ads
Keyword seasonality
A new distribution partner added to the Yahoo! network
Yahoo! Buzz placement, where searches on certain popular keywords can be performed directly from the page content.
Yahoo! Front Page placement, where searches on certain popular keywords can be performed directly from the page content

What do you think of these updates? Have you had success with the Traffic Quality Center? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 13, 2008

Jerry Yang Opens Up About Google Deal, Keeping Yahoo Independent

Jerry Yang has opened up about the non-exclusive search advertising deal with Google with a post over at the Yahoo! Anecdotal blog.

Yang started off by writing, "It's no longer a rumor." Considering Yahoo! issued a press release regarding a test of Adsense last April, I'm not sure rumor is the right word here, but let's move on.

Yang justified the deal by saying the move is part of Yahoo!'s open strategy:

"WebMD sells their audiences on Yahoo!, Yelp can customize how their local search results appear using Search Monkey, advertisers and publishers will buy and sell in an open marketplace with our upcoming AMP! from Yahoo!, and we're now opening our paid search results to Google."

Then, Yang offered assurance that Yahoo! wasn't exiting the paid search biz, but is instead positioning themselves better within the marketplace:

"As search and display continue their convergence, it puts Yahoo! in a better position to innovate and compete aggressively with Google and others for ad dollars."

One sentence stood out above all the rest.

"An independent search business is critical to our future."

Shareholders could grab onto that statement as a sign that Yang was never interested in selling to Microsoft, something Carl Icahn has been saying as part of his proxy board campaign.

Google also wants an independent Yahoo, per statements by CEO Eric Schmidt earlier this week. Though, we would assume that's for different reasons.

Of course, in order to make money from this deal, Yahoo needs to get eyeballs to their site and searches need to be conducted. But their numbers are falling in U.S. search queries, so they're going to have to do a lot more than a Google deal to save themselves.

Yang seems to understand this, "It is, of course, just one step. We'll continue to look at all of our alternatives to advance our strategies and enhance growth and profitability." But he doesn't have much time to prove himself before the August 1 shareholder meeting.

What do you think about Yang's statements? Is comparing Google to WebMd and Yelp like comparing apples and oranges? Did his blog help or hurt him with shareholders? Sound off in the comments.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 12, 2008

Yahoo, Google Collaborate on Search Ads. Apocalypse Expected Soon.

In what must be one of the seven signs of the apocalypse, Yahoo and Google have agreed to extend the advertising tests they participated in last month to a broader-scale distribution partnership.

Under the agreement, Yahoo would outsource a portion of its search ad inventory to Google, and potentially to other providers in the future. Yahoo now has the option to display Google ads alongside its own natural search results and other Web properties in the U.S. and Canada.

Yahoo will select the search term queries and the pages where Google AdSense for Search or AdSense for Content ads will be shown. The deal does not affect Yahoo's algorithmic search.

Yahoo expects the deal to improve monetization of its pages, potentially adding $800 million in annual revenue. In the first 12 months following implementation, Yahoo expects the agreement to generate an estimated $250 million to $450 million in incremental operating cash flow.

The open bidding system will likely utilize the abilities of Yahoo's Right Media Exchange software to deliver those third-party ads on Yahoo's search results. Such a deal could still include spurned suitor Microsoft, which could also allay regulatory fears that Google is getting even bigger than it already is. To play nice with regulators, the two have agreed to delay implementation for up to three and a half months to give the U.S. Department of Justice time to review the arrangement.

The agreement has a term of up to ten years: a 4-year initial term and two 3-year renewals at Yahoo!'s option. Financial terms between the two companies were not disclosed. Either party will have the option of terminating the agreement in the event of a change in control of either party, but if Yahoo initiates it within the next 24 months, it will owe Google a termination fee is $250 million, subject to reduction by 50 percent of revenues earned by Google under the agreement.

The two-week test in April reportedly affected about 3 percent of Yahoo search queries, and only applied to search traffic from yahoo.com in the U.S. and did not include Yahoo's publisher network or other partners.

As an additional token of newfound camaraderie, Yahoo and Google agreed to enable interoperability between their instant messaging services.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 6:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

May 20, 2008

Yahoo Makes Minor Updates to Sponsored Search

In the midst of a proxy board fight, new negotiations with Microsoft, and a possible deal with Google, Yahoo has made updates to its sponsored search listings. In an announcement on the Yahoo! Search Marketing blog, Jeff Hecox said the changes wouldn't make "worldwide headlines" but they designed the changes to be more intuitive to users.

Here's what to expect:

• Names of objects (campaign, ad group, keyword, etc.) that are offline will be displayed with red text for easy recognition. • "Top Campaigns” and “Watched Campaigns” tables on the Dashboard page now include a “Status” column to help you identify if and why any campaigns are offline. • On the “Campaigns” page, there's a new “Status” column, the ability to filter by “Status” when using the Advanced Search function, and the “Campaign On/Off” button have been replaced with individual “Pause” and “Unpause” buttons. • On the Ads table On Ad Group pages, a “Status” column has been added and “Pause” and “Unpause” buttons have replaced “Campaign On/Off” button on the Ads table. • New status settings have been added on the Search page, under the Campaigns tab. • The ability to export (using the “Download” button) account information has been added to account-level Ad Group and Keyword pages, under the Campaigns tab.

What do you think about the updates to Yahoo's Sponsored Search? Leave a comment!

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 16, 2008

Yahoo's Search Syndicate Gets Harsh Review By SEOBook

Aaron Wall has written a thorough and unflattering overview of Yahoo search traffic following the release of search numbers that show Yahoo gets well over half its search volume from its partners.

Aaron discusses how this impacts arbitrage and motivates poor quality. Though possibly just a little harsh, it is worth reading and keeping in mind.

Recent numbers from Efficient Frontier show that Yahoo has nearly three times more search partners than Google - funny given Google has over three times more search volume. And as Aaron notes direct search converts "nearly twice" more than partner search traffic.

Not good numbers moving forward in a battle for the search industry. But I always managed to convert Yahoo traffic at a better CPA than Google in the financial vertical. So maybe there are niches where Yahoo benefits from its partners.... will have to keep track of this one.

Posted by Frank Watson at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

May 14, 2008

SEW Experts: Google's Superiority Complex

In the end, is Google's search advertising system better than Yahoo's, or are they just monetizing better? In today's Searching for Meaning column, "Google's Superiority Complex," Kevin Ryan says it sounds like a little bit of both, but we shouldn't count Yahoo out.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 23, 2008

New Yahoo Feature Reports Number of Discarded Clicks

Yahoo has been throwing out bad clicks on search ad campaigns, but now a new feature will give further insight into those clicks. The new “Click Filter Report” will show how many bad clicks Yahoo is discarding.

Users can customize the report to display the data across various metrics including time, impressions, invalid clicks and average cost-per-click. Additionally, data can be viewed across an entire account or by individual campaign.

Using the report in conjunction with third-party analytics (or the forthcoming IndexTools?) will help you should you need to submit a “click investigation report.”

To access the report, click on the “Reports” tab, then go to “Traffic Quality Reports” and select “Click Filter.”

Yahoo says it typically discards 12-15% of all clicks, but advises that the mileage may vary from one ad campaign to another.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 10:38 AM | Permalink

April 18, 2008

Yahoo Implements Minimum Bid Price Change

In February, Yahoo announced that minimum bids for Sponsored Search will no longer be fixed at $.10. And yesterday, they announced that the change has taken effect.

Buyers may find that new minimum bids may be set lower or higher than $.10 for Sponsored Search ads. However, Content Match minimum bids will stay fixed at $.10.

Comparing the new minimum bids to auction house reserve prices, Yahoo said that two main factors will drive the price – quality and value. High quality ads could be rewarded with lower minimum bids, while value will be determined by how many advertisers are bidding on a particular keyword and how much they're willing to pay for it.

Ads become eligible for display when a buyer's bid is equal to or greater to the minimum bid. Users will be notified through their Account Dashboard if the minimum bid goes above their current bid. A grace period of several days will be given to raise bids.

The implementation came in the wake of news that Yahoo's testing of Google ads was successful. Yahoo releases first quarter revenues next Tuesday.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 9:48 AM | Permalink

April 17, 2008

Yahoo's Test of Google Ads is Successful, Partnership Progresses

Yahoo's two week test of Google's search advertising has proved successful, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter.” As a result, a partnership between the two search engines is increasingly likely.

Earlier this week, SearchIgnite released data that Yahoo made gains on Google in the search advertising game. But Yahoo has a long way to go in making significant strides in the search ad game, and they have more immediate issues at hand, namely Microsoft's unsolicited bid to acquire the company.

A partnership with Google appears to be one of many moves in what appears to be an attempt by Yahoo to fend off Microsoft in its unsolicited bid for the company or to raise the offer. Previously, Yahoo released positive revenue projections for the next three years, talked with AOL about a merger, and teamed up with Google to form the OpenSocial Foundation.

For its part, Microsoft began to grow tired waiting, and issued Yahoo an April 26th ultimatum, despite receiving a “no” from Yahoo shortly after the bid was made. And Microsoft may be feeling the pressure, as it has reportedly been talking to News Corp. about assisting in the hostile takeover.

Yahoo releases its first quarter earnings next Tuesday, April 22 at 2pm EST. Google releases its first quarter earnings today at 4:30pm EST.

Posted by Nathania Johnson at 8:47 AM | Permalink

February 28, 2008

Yahoo Changes Minimum Bid Policy on Search Ads

Yahoo this week changed the way it will set minimum bids on some keywords in Sponsored Search ads in the U.S., bringing it closer in line with Google's policy. Instead of setting all minimum bids at $0.10, Yahoo will now allow the market to set a variable minimum bid. That means that in some cases, the minimum will be above $0.10, and in other cases it could be lower.

The minimum bids will be set based on the relevance of ads to a keyword, the number of bidders and their bid amounts. It will not be based on advertiser conversions. These kinds of factors are already used by Yahoo to rank ads based on a quality score, but the difference now applies to the minimum bid, or reserve price.

Google changed its minimum bid structure in July 2005. Many advertisers were not happy with the move at the time, but so far there does not seem to be much outcry in blogs or search marketing forums.

A key difference between Yahoo's new method and Google's is the institution of alerts and a grace period when the bid on a given keyword is about to fall below the minimum. Yahoo will notify advertisers in their Account Dashboard if a bid is about to drop below the minimum, and will offer a grace period of up to a few days to allow the advertiser to raise their bid to keep the keyword active.

The first batch of keywords goes live in the U.S. with the new reserve pricing model over the next few weeks, with more keywords to be added internationally in the future.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:36 AM | Permalink

February 7, 2008

SEW Experts: Why Search is Still Prehistoric - Part 2

Many search marketers were disappointed with the Yahoo Panama release, finding it to be more of a catch-up to Google than a leap forward. In today's Brand Equity column, "Why Search is Still Prehistoric - Part 2," Eric Qualman explains that the cause of that disappointment may result from Yahoo trying to please advertisers, instead of searchers, with Panama.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 AM | Permalink

November 29, 2007

Yahoo Fine Tuning Panama Tools, Launches Campaign Tune Up and More

Yahoo has announced some tweaks to the Panama paid search product including campaign tune up tools.

The Yahoo Search Marketing blog reported the changes today.

The blog stated:

Campaign Tune-Up Kind of like installing a nitro booster, we've revved up your account with a new tool called Campaign Tune-up. Campaign Tune-Up can help you optimize your Sponsored Search campaigns if you're not running Campaign Optimizer. It automatically analyzes a campaign's performance history, budget and business objectives, such as cost per click or conversions, and offers suggestions for bids, match types and budgets. You can either accept or reject the suggestions, but fine-tuning your bids could help your campaign run a lot better.

From your Campaign Details page, you'll see a new link, “Tune-up Campaign.” Clicking the link starts the tuning. You can then set the business measurements that matter to you for tuning your campaign and will be walked through the rest of the process.

Sticky Widget For our next tweak, we updated the system so that more of your preferences are remembered. As a result, viewing your account the way you want is easier and requires fewer clicks. These “sticky” preferences are also remembered each time your log into your account. This tweak affects the column-sorting on your Campaign Summary and Campaign Detail pages and your Ad Group Detail page.

Let's see how they work... any reviews can be posted here.

Posted by Frank Watson at 2:18 PM | Permalink

November 12, 2007

Yahoo Announces Change To Shorter Descriptions

I received two emails this morning both stating the same thing (slightly different subject lines) - Yahoo will be cutting off ads at 75 characters. They had started this shortened descriptions some time ago but let you enter longer descriptions and they would only show the first 75 characters.

Seems now you will not have the option - all ads will use the 75 character limit.

"Beginning in late November 2007, if you have created short descriptions for your ads, those short descriptions will automatically be displayed on Yahoo! Search results (currently the short description will not always be displayed) but if you have not created a short description for a particular ad, the long description will be automatically cut off to fit within a 75 character limit," the emails stated.

Why are we making this change? - email asked "We are implementing these changes to streamline the search results displayed on Yahoo!, making it easier for users to read and absorb your ad messages. Our research has shown that by improving the search experience in this way, advertisers may see an increase in clicks, while maintaining their conversion rates" the announcement explained.

Posted by Frank Watson at 1:01 PM | Permalink

November 9, 2007

Yahoo Shares Hints on Improving Quality Index

Yahoo search ads have been ranked using a quality index since the launch of Panama. This number is important, because ads with a higher quality index can receive higher ranking in sponsored search results. Advertisers can see what their ad's quality index is, on a scale of one to five, within their account interface. But knowing how to improve that index is another matter.

Yahoo offers some tips to understand and improve your quality index in the Yahoo Search Marketing blog. Your ad's quality index reflects its ability to meet the needs and desires of users – that is, how well it helps them find what they want, quickly and accurately. If your ads don't meet the needs of users, users are less likely to click them. Fewer clicks means fewer customers and conversions.

When this happens, nobody wins: not you, not us and not the user. High-quality ads, by contrast, can help create winners out of all of us. The quality index was set up to encourage advertisers to better meet the needs of users – who are, after all, the reason we are both here.

Tactics to improve quality index include using relevant keywords within an ad group, including keywords in creative, utilizing excluded keywords, and using ad testing. Yahoo also suggests gathering intelligence about competitors' ads, and including special offers in your ad copy.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:49 AM | Permalink

October 9, 2007

Yahoo Panama Morphing Into Google

Yahoo announced today that it is changing to the max bid and quality score method of bid pricing in Sweden - interesting place to beta.

Okay Yahoo is starting to look a lot like Google's little brother. Google makes changes and within a month or two Yahoo does the same thing. Easy really when you know Yahoo is using the same platform as Google.... Panama is a Yahoo tweak of the Google AdWords platform.

I asked this question when Yahoo adopted the Google 'black box' method - how much of the money Google paid to Overture for using their PPC concepts did Yahoo give back?

I was told it was all worked out when they first made the settlement arrangement. Guess 'The Blob' as Yahoo called the Overture platform was just too much for them to fix.

The announcement today came in the following email:

Bid Amount and Ad Quality will Determine an Ad's Rank in Search Results in Sweden the week commencing October 22nd, 2007.

Dear Advertiser,

With new features like ad testing, geo-targeting and fast ad activation, the new Sponsored Search gives you more ways to connect with customers searching for what you sell.

During the week commencing October 22nd, 2007, we are introducing a new ranking model in Sweden that considers an ad's quality and bid amount. The new model is designed to help you spend less time in bidding wars with other advertisers and more time creating the most relevant, effective ads, which can help drive better results for your business.

Here's a quick summary of this important change:

Both bid amount and ad quality will determine an ad's rank in search results the week commencing October 22nd, 2007. This will replace the current method, in which ads are ranked by bid amount only (bid-to-position). This is designed to allow you to focus less on competitive bidding practices and more on the quality of your ads. By improving the quality of your ads and making them more relevant to users, you may be rewarded with a better ranking and/or a lower cost for your ads. Example of How Ads May be Ranked The graphic below helps illustrate a scenario that may result from this change:

Note: The graphic above is provided for illustrative purposes only, and will not actually appear in your account.

What is "Ad Quality"? Ad quality is determined by:

The ad's historical performance - its click-through rate relative to competitors and normalised for position.* The ad's expected performance - determined by various relevance factors considered by Yahoo! Search Marketing's ranking algorithms, relative to other ads displayed at the same time. Overall ad quality is displayed in a graphical form by the quality index.

Posted by Frank Watson at 12:48 PM | Permalink

October 1, 2007

Yahoo Sponsored Listings Allowing Site Blocking

Yahoo announced it is broadening its Traffic Quality Features for its sponsored ads in an email today.

Apparently you are now able to block up to 250 web sites you do not want your ads to appear on Sponsored Search and Content Match, according to the email.

The email stated:

As an advertiser, you want quality traffic—qualified clicks from the users who are most likely to become customers. Our new blocked domains feature, planned for launch later this month, will provide you with greater control of where your ads appear. This is just one of several ways that Yahoo! is working to improve the value of the traffic that we deliver to you.

• Blocked Domains (New!) Now you can specify websites in our partner distribution network where you don't want your ads to appear. • Pricing Discounts You may automatically receive pricing discounts based on our assessment of the quality of traffic coming from our partner distribution network. • Click Protection System We track click and search patterns across many data points to identify clicks that we believe shouldn't be billed to our advertisers. The click protection system generally discards charges from 12 percent to 15 percent of clicks. • Blocked Continents Yahoo! automatically excludes traffic from continents other than North America. If global traffic is important to your business, you can opt into this traffic. • Traffic Quality Center This site is our home for traffic quality tips, tools and news. This is the place to go, for instance, if you want to learn how to submit click investigation requests.

Posted by Frank Watson at 5:07 PM | Permalink

August 30, 2007

Yahoo Adds New Features To Panama

Yahoo announced new features for its paid search product and its interface, Panama, according to the Yahoo blog.

Twenty ads per ad group and the ability to view performance numbers, as well as edit, copy, delete and create new ads, tightens the user experience.

And you can now look at competitor ads if you need to get the writing started.

Posted by Frank Watson at 1:10 PM | Permalink

July 24, 2007

Yahoo Europe Beta Testing PPC Quality Score Ranking

I just received an email letting me know that Yahoo Panama is starting to beta test the Quality Score rankings in Europe.

The email states:

Dear Advertiser,

Yahoo! Search Marketing is constantly striving to improve both the advertiser and customer experience, with the goal of providing the most relevant and targeted listings as users search, click and travel across the Internet. To accomplish this, we constantly test new implementations and matching technologies.

To help ensure we launch our new ranking model successfully, we will start running a limited test across our European advertiser listings in which the display order of Sponsored Search listings in some keyword markets is based on factors other than bid. In determining listing position, the test will take into account a particular ad's click-through rate, as well as other relevancy factors.

The total amount of Sponsored Search traffic that we are providing to you should not change, but due to optimisation of certain keywords you may see traffic volume increase or decrease depending upon the relevancy of your offers and other optimisation factors.

As always, we encourage you to track your results from individual keywords, so that you can manage your bids and creative for maximum return-on-investment.

We have begun upgrading advertisers to the new system and will continue to do so in waves to ensure a smooth transition to the new system. Once all advertisers have upgraded, we will introduce our new ranking model. We will be contacting you with more specific information as the rollout date approaches.

Posted by Frank Watson at 12:15 PM | Permalink

June 29, 2007

Yahoo Upgrades Panama's Tools

The keyword selector tool is offering suggestions, copying and moving keywords amongst groups, and an improved help section have been added to Panama's features.

The changes are detailed at the Yahoo blog.

Posted by Frank Watson at 8:21 AM | Permalink

June 24, 2007

Yahoo Combining Search And Display

Yahoo has announced it is combining search and display under one department. Heading up this newly formed division of North American Sales is David Karnstedt - presently senior vice president of Yahoo!'s Search sales business. He will report directly to Gregory Coleman, Yahoo!'s EVP of Global Sales.

This has also happened at Yahoo International with Kris Thoren heading this division.

The details of this change is given in their press release today:

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), a leading global Internet company, will combine its Search and Display advertising sales teams in the US, and has appointed David Karnstedt, currently senior vice president of Yahoo!'s Search sales business, to lead the unified organization as Head of North American Sales. Karnstedt, a long-time Yahoo! executive and industry veteran will continue to report to Gregory Coleman, Yahoo!'s EVP of Global Sales. This transition continues the steps Yahoo! has been taking since the beginning of the year to organize product management, engineering, and distribution around marketing customers rather than advertising products.

"Integrating our world-class search and display sales teams under David's leadership will allow us to better serve all of our advertisers' marketing objectives ranging from brand awareness to direct response," said Sue Decker, President, Yahoo! "This is one of many important steps we're taking to re-invigorate our display business, further build on our industry-leading position in advertising, and drive thought-leadership in the online advertising marketplace."

Advertisers are increasingly seeking solutions that span a wide variety of ad products, such as search, display and video, that when combined can deliver significantly better results than when used independently. As a result of these changes, Yahoo!'s integrated sales organization will be the first of its kind to offer the widest selection of advertising products coupled with the broadest scale of search and display inventory to customers. By organizing around marketers and their needs rather than advertising products, the company will be better positioned to provide marketing customers with the most comprehensive set of end-to-end solutions that achieve a wide range of marketing objectives. Yahoo!'s leading position in display and strong position in search give it an advantage to offer integrated marketing solutions to its marketing partners.

"The future of advertising isn't about choosing between search and display, but about leveraging the breadth of advertising products to more effectively reach your customers with the right message, in the right context, at the right time, and on the right platform," said Coleman. "David Karnstedt has done great things for Yahoo!'s Search Sales business, and it's his leadership skills, business acumen and keen understanding of the new media landscape that make him the perfect person to help shape the future of Yahoo!'s advertising sales business."

Karnstedt joined Yahoo! Search Marketing (formerly Overture) in September 2001. Since joining Yahoo!, Karnstedt has built and managed the company's North American search sales force. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Karnstedt was a key member of the management teams at a number of pioneering internet companies including Wired Digital Lycos and Alta Vista where he developed revolutionary online advertising methods that are still in use today. Karnstedt was also a catalyst for developing products and marketing strategies that leveraged the auction-based search environment for many of the world's leading marketers. He has also been responsible for developing and administering some of the Internet's earliest research regarding the impact of branding through the use of online advertising.

"By taking a more holistic approach to advertising sales, Yahoo! will become a more consultative seller, which should make buying complete solutions easier for our customers across Yahoo! and our partner network," said Karnstedt. "These moves will also enable our world class sales team to more effectively meet the needs of our advertisers - not just today but well into the future."

As part of the reorganization, Wenda Millard, Yahoo!'s Chief Sales Officer in the US will be leaving the company effective immediately.

Coleman added, "While Wenda was a big contributor to our success in the past, the industry has shifted and requires a different set of skills to take the business forward. We appreciate her dedication during her years of service and wish her well in the next chapter of her career."

In December 2006, Yahoo! announced the findings of a Web-wide study conducted by comScore that measured the impact of display and search advertising campaigns. The study, entitled "Close the Loop: Understanding Search and Display Synergy," found that online users who were exposed to both the search and display advertising campaigns increased their share of page views relative to competitive sites by 68 percent, and time spent by 66 percent. More importantly, among those exposed to both the search and display ads, purchases of an advertiser's products and services increased by 244 percent online and 89 percent offline compared to online users with similar behavior who were not exposed to these ads.

The integration of Yahoo!'s search and display advertising sales teams is underway, and the company will make additional announcements about the structure of the organization and the executives that will lead it shortly.

Building on Yahoo!'s Positive Momentum

Yahoo! is moving aggressively to build-on its long-term leadership position in display advertising, while further strengthening its strong position in search. Today's announcement follows a number of other key initiatives that Yahoo! has undertaken to invigorate its display advertising business, which include: announcing the intention to acquire Right Media; integrating our Inside Sales Organization into the search sales team to create a performance hub; building of an off-network display business through recent partnerships with eBay, the Newspaper Consortium and Comcast; and offering day parting options on Yahoo!'s home page.

Posted by Frank Watson at 2:59 PM | Permalink

June 21, 2007

Yahoo Moves to Short Descriptions

As Yahoo announced in April, Yahoo has begun requiring advertisers to provide a short, 70-character description for all ad descriptions. Previously, advertisers could supply both a 70-character description and a 190-character description. The longer description will still appear on some distribution partner sites, but all ads on Yahoo sites will now use the short version. Ad descriptions longer than 70 characters on Yahoo in the U.S. will now be cut off at the nearest complete word.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 8:52 AM | Permalink

June 13, 2007

SEW Experts: Priming Your Quality Score to Boost Campaign Results

In today's By the Numbers column, "Priming Your Quality Score to Boost Campaign Results," Eric Enge shows you how to use the new paid search Quality Scores to your advantage to provide great campaign results.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:53 AM | Permalink

June 11, 2007

Yahoo! Distributing Overture Settlemtent Funds

I received 5 emails from Yahoo today. Upon opening them I found out I was over $11,000 richer. The largess came from claims I had made last year as part of the class action suit against Yahoo. The claim covered any errors in Overture's budgeting andbidding mechanisms from October 1, 2004 to June1, 2005.

The emails read:

We have received the claim form that you submitted to the Online Merchant Systems v. Yahoo! Settlement Administrator. This email is to inform you that based on your submission of a timely and valid claim form which established you as an Authorized Claimant under the Settlement, your account with Yahoo! Search Marketing was credited in the amount of $xxxx.xx for your share of the settlement proceeds. As set forth in the court approved Notice and Settlement Agreement, your credit was calculated based on the amount of money you spent on advertising placement from October 1, 2004 to June 1, 2005 compared to the total amount of advertising spend of all the other Authorized Claimants in each of the two sub-classes--budgeting and non-budgeting.

This credit has been posted to your account.

If you have questions, you can call the OMS v. Yahoo! Settlement Administrator toll-free at 1-800-616-1481 between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time, Monday through Friday or email us at omsbudgetingsettlement@rustconsulting.com.

Posted by Frank Watson at 10:48 AM | Permalink

June 6, 2007

No Conversion in Yahoo's Quality-Based Bidding

Speculations were high on what elements went into Yahoo's Quality Bid-based pricing since they announced the change two days ago.

People thought conversions from use of Yahoo Analytics was part of the algorithm determining pricing, but Yahoo wrote a blog post to clarify that this was not the case.

Posted by Frank Watson at 8:42 PM | Permalink

June 4, 2007

Yahoo Launches Quality-Based Pricing

At 6 p.m. PT tonight, Yahoo! Search Marketing will begin to roll out quality-based pricing across its sponsored search and contextual listings marketplaces to help increase ROI and reduce search marketing costs for advertisers, according to their Director of Public Relations Gaude Lydia Paez.

"We're especially excited about this launch, as it's one of many new capabilities that our new “Panama” search marketing platform enables us to build," Paez stated.

What exactly is quality-based pricing? In a nutshell, quality-based pricing assesses the quality of a publisher's traffic based upon the publisher's ability to deliver more interested, high-value potential customers to Yahoo!'s advertisers. A few of the factors considered by quality-based pricing include publisher conversion rates, traffic source and implementation type. Depending on the quality of a given publisher's traffic, the cost of an advertiser's click can be automatically discounted by a certain percentage.

This enhancement is a key step in Yahoo!'s ongoing efforts to build the world's highest quality search advertising marketplace. Quality-based pricing will help ensure that traffic from Yahoo!'s network is priced in a manner that is consistent with the quality it delivers to advertisers. At the same time, providing higher ROI and discounted bid should allow advertisers the flexibility to experiment with their savings and re-invest in their search marketing campaigns on Yahoo!.

We're rolling this out in phases, beginning with a select number of keyword marketplaces and then expanding it more broadly across our network over the coming months.

Posted by Frank Watson at 9:18 PM | Permalink

May 14, 2007

Yahoo Being Sued For Faulty Ad Platform

The Blob (aka the Overture PPC platform) has struck Yahoo again - even after they replaced it with Panama - as a company is suing Yahoo for using an ad platform that was "operationally defective".

This one should not get too far, and if it does Yahoo may as well get out of search - stopping the floodgates after a result against Yahoo would be hard.

Danny Sullivan gives a great overview of the situation.

Posted by Frank Watson at 4:17 PM | Permalink

April 5, 2007

Yahoo to Require Short Descriptions

Beginning in May, Yahoo will require advertisers to provide a short, 70-character description for all ad descriptions, while making the current 190-character description an option that will only be shown in certain formats, according to the Yahoo Search Marketing blog.

Beginning in June, Yahoo will begin cutting off ads at 70 characters, or the nearest complete word to 70 characters. Long descriptions will continue to be shown on some external distribution partner sites. The space limit for titles will remain at 40 characters, while display URLs will be reduced to a maximum of 35 characters.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 11:02 PM | Permalink

March 27, 2007

Panama Working Better Than Expected?

After Yahoo CEO Terry Semel crowed last week about the success of Panama, a Wall Street analyst now adds to Yahoo's merriment with news of even more success, according to paidContent.org.

UBS AG analyst Ben Schachter told Bloomberg that Panama is "just working quicker and better than people had expected," and it may boost Yahoo's revenue growth from searches to more than 20 percent in the second half of this year, instead of his previous estimate of as little as 15 percent.

Also quoted in the Bloomberg story are search marketers from Did-it, who said clickthrough rates rose 3 percent in February, and Avenue A | Razorfish, who said CTR has risen 10 percent since Panama's debut. If that 10 percent figure holds up across the board, that could mean a boost of about $25 million in Yahoo's sales this quarter, which would exceed Yahoo's timeline of expected results in the second quarter, Piper Jaffray's Safa Rashtchy told Bloomberg.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:25 AM | Permalink

March 22, 2007

Yahoo Renews Click Fraud Prevention Efforts

Yahoo today put a renewed focus on fighting click fraud by appointing Yahoo vet Reggie Davis as the new VP of marketplace quality. Davis has been in Yahoo's legal department for 7 years, with duties that included managing Yahoo's click fraud litigation. He has been tapped to lead a team of cross-functional groups focusing on click fraud and other quality issues.

John Slade, who had been Yahoo's most visible representative in its anti-click fraud efforts, will resume a product-focused role in building out future Yahoo ad products.

In discussing his new role, Davis also shared with SEW that Yahoo's "network discard rate," representing the average number of clicks (in aggregate) that its clickthrough protection filters identify, tag and do not bill to advertisers, is between 12 and 15 percent.

More details on Davis' role can be found in today's SearchDay, "Yahoo Steps Up Click Fraud Efforts."

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 2:54 AM | Permalink

March 16, 2007

Panama Ad Ranking Algo Explained

Confused by the new ad ranking algorithm in Yahoo's Panama platform? Kevin Lee provides a good illustration in his ClickZ column today, "Panama's Relevance Score Causes Pain and Gain."

As Lee explains, the ranking algorithm is similar to Google's AdRank, in that it comes up with a score by multiplying predicted CTR with bid price. A change in one or the other, measured as a percentage change, will affect the ad's position.

In a case where two ads have equal current bid prices, if one ad's predicted clickthrough rate is 23 percent higher than the second ad's predicted CTR, it would require the second ad to pay a 23 percent higher bid to outperform the first. If that is above the second ad's max bid price, it will drop in the rankings below other ads with higher bid prices or better predicted CTR.

To better align your Yahoo ad campaigns to the new algorithm, Lee suggests taking steps to enhance relevance, such as reorganizing ad groups, reviewing landing pages and bids, and testing new ad creative.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:07 AM | Permalink

March 7, 2007

More Early Yahoo Panama Results

As more early results roll in, it appears that Yahoo's Panama platform is delivering as promised, improving ad performance for big-brand marketers and quality of results for searchers.

Last week, we saw results from Avenue A | Razorfish that supported this. Among that agency's clients, search impressions were up an average of 5 percent, cost per click (CPC) prices were down an average of 6 percent, with clickthrough rates up an average of 10 percent.

This week, we have similar early returns from search and media management firm SearchIgnite and RBC Capital Markets' research arm. A study of results from clients of SearchIgnite, and sister firm 360i showed that Yahoo's market share among those advertisers stabilized after Panama launched, ending a steady decline for the past year. It also found that clickthrough rates improved since Panama's launch, while cost-per-click has held steady.

You'll find the details in today's SearchDay, "Early Returns Encouraging for Panama."

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 5:49 PM | Permalink

March 6, 2007

Time to Put the Pipe Wrench Away? Semel Says: "We Fixed the Plumbing"

Speaking to a group of investors at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference today, Yahoo's CEO Terry Semel said the company spent most of 2006 "fixing the basic plumbing" of the Yahoo Search Marketing platform (aka Panama).

According to the AP article, CFO Susan Decker, also said advertisers had begun seeing improved relevance from Yahoo's pay-per-click advertising since it introduced the full system in the United States one month ago.

She also said that the international rollout is on track for Q2, beginning with Japan, Yahoo's second biggest market. The UK marketplace is also expected to begin transitioning to the new platform during the second quarter.

Posted by Elisabeth Osmeloski at 4:38 PM | Permalink

February 28, 2007

Panama from a Big Agency Perspective

Avenue A | Razorfish put Yahoo's Panama platform through the paces this month, and has shared some data from 33 search clients in an article on its Search Marketing Trends site, "Yahoo Panama First Look."

Some highlights:

Search Impressions – Up an average of 5%
Cost Per Click – Down an average of 6%
Click Rate – Up an average of 10%
Conversion Rates – Down an average of 5%
Overall CPA – Up an average of 6%

The agency stresses that there is still a wide variance in data across clients, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:51 PM | Permalink

February 26, 2007

comScore Defines Panama Effects

ComScore Networks has found that Yahoo's new ranking model has increased click through rates on its ads, at least initially. The study, based on the online behavior of comScore's U.S. sample of 1 million Internet users, compared the first two weeks after the launch of the ranking model to the previous week, and found a 5-pecent lift the first week, and a 9-percent lift in CTR the second week.

ComScore also found that Yahoo's search ads are gaining ground as a percentage of total clicks. Prior to the Panama launch, ads held 10.1 percent of clicks, which increased to 10.6 percent of total click volume in the week ending February 11 and 11.1 percent in the week ending February 18.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:10 AM | Permalink

February 22, 2007

Yahoo! Gives 2nd SearchLight Award

So amid the restructuring Yahoo! had time to give out the second annual SearchLight awards today.

As their press release states:

The Yahoo! 2nd Annual Searchlight Award winner is Avenue A|Razorfish for their “Your Choice, Your Chase” campaign! Avenue A|Razorfish was a finalist last year at the first-ever Searchlight Awards. This year, Senior Search Account Manager Steve Capone provided solid research to show the benefits of using broad keywords to drive brand awareness for Chase. The campaign also focused on how the Chase microsite delivered the right product with the right rewards to interested customers. Avenue A|Razorfish is an interactive services firm that helps companies use the online channel as a marketing and business tool.

Not surprising since the other three spent very little time discussing how search was part of their overall campaigns.....

I voted for AvenueA/RazorFish .... they gave us search details.

The award - a spotlight similar to last year's designed by West Coast Custom (of Pimp My Ride fame) - comes with a party at the winning agency and some joint advertising with Yahoo.

The event was fun. The four finalists of 30 agencies that submitted entries included NeoSearch who ran the Sprint/Tallladega Nights promotion with a budget of $160,000 (though they only spent under $2,500 on search), Special K - the cereal that is all about weight loss and has joined the numerous companies creating niched portals at Yahoo, and Lexus LS and Team One whose clever use of the Yahoo Home Page to show the car's ability to parallel park with an intertestial that ran across the page then parked itself were all informative.

Laura Desmond, CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group, in her keynote address, gave the audience a great overview of where the search industry is and where it needs to look to the future.

Using the opening comments of VP of Yahoo Agency Development Ron Belanger's to the old Virginia Slims ad "we've come a long way, baby", Ms Desmond noted that the first 21st century marketing tool was search.

"Optimize, convert and report", Desmond explained need to be the goals of the internet marketers of the future. "Search is more than direct response", she explained, "the high tech, on demand era is here".

The most important question is "is our imagination big enough for this world," Desmond said. "Take risks," she stated and quoting Wayne Gretzsky went on to say "you will miss 100% of the shots you do not try".

Desmond told the audience to embrace innovation and change. Convert and leverage data to produce powerful keywords for search and establish holistic goals, she said.

Search and online analytics are now being used to impact car design and assembly line production, Desmond said. "Optimize and convert" and repeat the process,she told the audience, "search is more than direct reponse".

The opening address was insightful for a self admitted non-search expert.

Desmond asked her staff to describe the search industry in relation to advertsing and got some interesting responses.

Five were given. The first group saw search as a wise old sage with years of experience (guess they were new to the space). The second thought of a school age child soaking up knowledge. Third was search as a young professional - not fully matured but eager to grow.

The fourth group thought search was the Greek God Mercury - the ominipresent messenger. The final group saw search as a toddler with many stages of growth to go.

Yahoo's recognition of the importance of search is commendable. Their promotion of these awards helps agencies trying to convert the holdovers from old methods of advertising.

Search has not been pushed aside by Yahoo just yet. Here's hoping there is a third SearchLight award.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:10 PM | Permalink

February 12, 2007

Yahoo Outlines Keys to PPC Success: Test, Test, Test

On the Yahoo Search Marketing blog, Michael Egan, senior director of content solutions, gives a run-down of the ad testing features available in Panama, and suggests that ad testing is a "must do."

In his post, His post, "Improving Ad Quality, Part II," Egan writes: It's hard to argue that Tiger Woods is pretty darn good at what he does. But even he is not perfect. Imagine if he were allowed to hit four balls each time and then choose the shot that worked the best. Scary good.

We're giving you that opportunity with our new ad testing feature In concept, it's like giving Tiger multiple shots from which to choose the best lie. Ad Testing is a “must do” if you are really trying to improve the quality of your ads.

Ad testing will work with as few as two ads in an ad group, or as many as 20. Without ad optimization, multiple ads are rotated relatively evenly. Once ad optimization is turned on, the system begins to learn which ad performs better, based on click-through-rate (CTR) normalized by position across all keywords in an ad group, and will begin to show that ad more frequently.

Egan suggests a testing strategy that takes into account four main factors:

Differentiate yourself -- Talk about the 3 C's: Customer, Competition and Company
Focus -- Don't try to test everything at once. Concentrate on specific characteristics of your ads and test those characteristics.
Iterate -- Don't treat ad testing as a one-time effort.
Isolate -- There are likely a small handful of keywords that drive a majority of the value you achieve from your search marketing efforts.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:37 AM | Permalink

February 5, 2007

Yahoo Ad Ranking System Now Live

Today's the day, as any search marketer not living under a rock for the past few months knows. Yahoo's flipping the switch on its new ad ranking model, so that bid price is no longer the sole factor in determining ad positions. The new ad quality algorithm makes Yahoo more Googley, which they say will improve overall ad quality, and critics say will make Yahoo more money by forcing advertisers to overpay.

The truth, as always, is likely found somewhere in the middle. If all goes well, the new algorithm will improve ad quality, by making it harder for low-quality sites that are engaging in arbitrage to rank well. (That's not to say there are not quality sites that add value that are engaged in arbitrage -- I'm talking about the "made for AdSense" sites that are not adding anything but a middleman). In the short-term, it will also annoy many marketers that have grown used to having a purely bid-based alternative to Google.

The first part of Yahoo's Panama roll-out, the management interface, has raised some concerns with advertisers. You can see discussion of that in the SEW forums, here and here, for starters. There are numerous horror stories of mangled campaigns, inept or unhelpful support staff, and quirky interface elements.

The new ranking model is bound to bring out a whole new round of concerns and complaints. Yahoo gives advertisers some tips on its Yahoo Search Marketing Blog, which we've also talked about here.

You can bet that Yahoo is crossing fingers, praying, rubbing rabbits' feet, and doing anything else possible in hopes this comes off without a hitch. It's a central piece of their business, after all. According to a New York Times story, Yahoo execs are huddled together in a "war room" as we speak, monitoring today's events.

We'd love to hear about your experience, your complaints, and any tips for your peers in the SEW forum.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 9:59 AM | Permalink

February 2, 2007

Yahoo Gives Tips To Improve Quality Score

Yahoo is trying to help people prepare for the addition of their Quality Score filter that will launch on Feb. 5th. I received an email giving tips which also had links to more details at the Yahoo Search Marketing help area.

Below are some handy tips to improve your quality score.

Tips to Prepare for the New Ranking Model (New Sponsored Search)

On February 5, 2007, we will be launching a new ranking model in the U.S. that will determine an ad's rank in search results based on bid amount and ad quality. To help you take advantage of our new ranking model, we've highlighted the key changes and then provide you with important steps.

Following are the key changes:

* An ad's rank will be determined by both bid amount and ad quality. * Ads with higher quality can deliver a lower cost per click and/or may receive better placement on the results page relative to lower quality ads. * Standard match type ads will no longer receive priority placement over Advanced match type ads.

To take advantage of the new ranking model, you should: * Include keywords in your ad (use our Insert Keyword feature).

Research indicates that the perceived quality is higher in ads where the keyword is included within the title and description.

You can use the insert keyword feature to dynamically insert the keyword into your title and/or description * Choose keywords for each ad group carefully.

Grouping keywords into relevant ad groups makes it easier to: o Craft ads that are more specific and relevant to your keywords. o Test different landing pages—and potentially increase conversion rates.

For example, if you were selling electronic products, you would want to place keywords related to “camera”, “video games” and “DVD players” into separate ad groups.

In addition, advertisers may consider grouping individual or smaller groups of similar keywords to get a better read on their quality index. Remember, your quality index score is based on combinations of your ads and all your keywords with the ad group.

Learn more about the new account structure. * Use ad testing.

Ad testing enables you to rotate different ads to learn which one attracts the most customers to your site. You can determine which message, offer or incentive is most effective and relevant — then you can potentially improve your rank in search results by displaying that ad.

Ad optimization is automatically set “ON” within your account so that better performing ads (based on click-through rate) are served more frequently. You can also choose to turn it “OFF” within your ad group settings. * Use our Excluded Keyword feature to help optimize your Advanced match type ads.

If you use the Advanced match type distribution tactic, and to help maximize the relevancy of your listings to search users, make sure you take advantage of Excluded Keywords, which are words or phrases that prevent an ad from matching a search query. * Review your current bids and set a campaign budget to meet your business goals.

We strongly recommend that you confirm your bids to ensure that you are comfortable with possibly paying close to the bid amount for each keyword. As always, we recommend that you set your bids to meet your business goals.

See our FAQs for more information.

Posted by Frank Watson at 11:41 AM | Permalink

January 30, 2007

Yahoo Keyword Tool Not Dead Yet

Earlier reports that Yahoo's keyword research tool is being discontinued are not true, according to a Yahoo spokesperson. Apparently, issues with the public Keyword Selector Tool being inaccessible are due to volume, and the tool is not in danger of disappearing. In fact, a new public keyword research tool, which would be hosted through Yahoo and available to API partners, is due later this year. The "protected" version, accessible within an advertiser's account management console, is apparently working fine.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 3:22 PM | Permalink

January 23, 2007

Yahoo To Add Quality Score To Panama Feb. 5th

Below is the official press release from Yahoo! regarding the addition of a Quality Score to Panama.

UPDATE Conversation with Gaude Lydia Paez, Director of Public Relations at Yahoo! has been added at the bottom.

Any comments can be posted on Panamania - They Are All Going Quality!

“Yahoo! is very excited to introduce our new, more quality-focused ranking model because it has the power to significantly enhance the experience we deliver to our users and unlock the full potential of Yahoo!'s search marketing network,” said Terry Semel, chief executive officer, Yahoo! Inc. “With this important piece in place our new search marketing system will allow Yahoo! to more effectively connect people with the businesses, products, services and information they are passionate about.”

To date, search ads on Yahoo! and its distribution partner sites have been ranked solely by bid price – the higher the bid, the higher an ad appears within the search results. When the new ranking model goes into effect, both bid and the ad's quality together will determine where an ad appears in the search results. The quality of an ad will be determined by its historical performance in the new system and its expected performance relative to other ads displayed at the same time. Ads of higher quality will generally receive better placement on the results page.

“By encouraging advertisers to focus on the quality of their ads, we can deliver a better search experience for all of our customers. Everybody wins.” said Tim Cadogan, Yahoo!'s vice president, search marketing. “We firmly believe that delivering more relevant ads to users will result in more quality leads to advertisers, invite even more participation in our network and ultimately create a more valuable marketplace for users, advertisers, publishers and Yahoo!.”

With this change, Yahoo! is providing advertisers with industry-leading marketplace visibility and features that allow them to better understand their performance and make informed marketing decisions. Advertisers who have upgraded to the new system (code named “Panama”) can gauge the quality of their ads by viewing the prominently displayed quality index within the Panama application. Yahoo! also provides advertisers with an estimated average position and estimated forecast of clicks for their ad campaigns, based on budget allocation and ad quality.

As a result of its customer-focused approach, Yahoo! continues to receive positive feedback about its new system and the upgrade experience.

“Internet search marketing is one of the most important ways in which our automotive customers connect with vehicle buyers, and Yahoo!'s Panama system makes it even easier for us to deliver that connection,” said John Holt, CEO of The Cobalt Group, a leading provider of marketing services to the automotive industry. “The transition to Yahoo!'s new system has been seamless for us, our clients are responding very positively to the new features, and we're fully prepared to help our customers maximize the quality of their ads when Yahoo! switches over to its new relevancy-based ranking model.”

Yahoo! will continue to send upgrade invitations to advertisers in the U.S. throughout Q1 2007 and anticipates that all active U.S. advertisers will be upgraded to the new system by the end of the quarter. Advertisers that wish to schedule their upgrade as early as possible can make a request through the upgrade reservation page: http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/newsponsoredsearch/invite/.

Yahoo! plans to begin the roll out of the new platform in non-US markets in Q2 2007. International rollout will be conducted on a market-by-market basis and will follow a similar process as in the U.S. by introducing the system interface first, followed by the new ranking model.

To sign up online for a new Yahoo! account or to learn more about the new search marketing system, please visit: http://signup.marketingsolutions.yahoo.com

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo!'s mission is to connect people to their passions, their communities, and the world's knowledge. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning Yahoo!'s new search marketing system and related strategic and operational plans. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the successful implementation, and acceptance by advertisers, of the Company's new search marketing system, and the reduction in spending by, or loss of, marketing services customers. More information about potential factors that could affect the Company's business and financial results is included under the captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2005 and the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2006 which are on file with the SEC and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Conversation with Gaude Lydia Paez Q: The inclusion of the Quality Score can be seen as a way for Yahoo! to maximize their profits. How do you see this?

A. That is not the sole focus. We believe that what's good for the user will ultimately end up benefiting our advertisers and publishers alike. The Quality Score will help users as well as advertisers improve on their relevancy. Advertisers will benefit from geographic or product specific ads appearing before the right traffic to name just two.

Q. Will there be information available before the launch?

A. There will additions to the extensive help area, adding tips and general information of the Quality Score. Webinars on the new system are being made available to all advertisers who have upgraded and there is always the ability to call for assistance and information on Panama at 866-924-6698.

Q. What differences are there between the Panama system and the Google system?

A. Obviously each has its own algorithms and they will work differently. Relevancy can include many factors.

Q. Recent articles have been mixed about Panama, any comments?

A. We've been refining the system continually since it first launched as we we learn more through advertiser participation and feedback. We've identified many areas for improvement and have launched multiple enhancements since and we have had valuable assistance in fixing any bugs found. But what should be noted is that we are replacing systems which others have not done. This is a new experience for everyone.

Yahoo! is a user facing company; we have many types of advertisers and value their input in our improvements.

Q. Will the old bid history be used in Panama? And if not what will be used to determine Quality.

A. No the history will begin in Panama. Many of the people who developed Panama where the same people who built the Yahoo! search engine, so our search marketing algorithms incorporate learnings from our web search.

Any comments can be posted on Panamania - They Are All Going Quality!

Posted by Frank Watson at 7:23 PM | Permalink

Panama Gets Mixed Review From Wall Street Journal

Seems Kevin J. Delaney over at the Wall Street Journal got mixed reviews of Yahoo's new search advertising interface, Panama.

And this is news why? Virtually every product in the world has mixed reviews. Delaney gave some examples of how Panama has created problems for some of the smaller advertisers, while noting that most of the agencies realized they would need to make changes when their accounts were migrated.

The WSJ article was a good example of the depth of knowledge a non-professional in our space generally has.

Delaney summed up Panama this way. "At its core, it involves replacing a Web-based system created in the late 1990s for companies to buy search-related ads, which had developed a reputation among some advertisers for outages and other problems. As part of the upgrade, Yahoo plans to change how it selects which search ads to display for any user query, adopting a strategy already used by Google that has proven more profitable".

No brief mention of GoTo/Overture/Yahoo being the first and thus oldest PPC system created when ppc advertising was much smaller. Nor that they offered set bidding which many people will miss, to be replaced with the blind bid method of Google; that may be more profitable to the engines but thus more expensive to the advertisers.

Yes the categories were a little off and required some tweaking once Yahoo made the migration, but this was done so the ads did not have to go back through editorial.

The timing of the report, the morning of Yahoo!'s earnings report, is at best curious. The unfavorable comparison to its major rival twice in the article is hard to understand - though since it is Google one tends to understand.

The comments in our forum on this topic have been as mixed as Delaney suggests, but they generally come with more insight.

Even the "I hate the new Yahoo PPC" thread has only 4 nay sayers - and it has been up for over a month.

Posted by Frank Watson at 3:37 PM | Permalink

January 17, 2007

Wired Writes Yahoo's Eulogy

Wired reporter Fred Vogelstein has penned a 3,200-word eulogy to Yahoo, "How Yahoo Blew It." The story chronicles Yahoo CEO Terry Semel's refusal to buy Google for $5 billion in 2002 (about the value of Yahoo itself at the time); the difficulties in integrating Yahoo's directory, Inktomi's search engine, and Overture search ad system; and the delays of Panama.

Yahoo responded to the piece with a statement, acknowledging Panama's timeline went long, but insisting that it was a "heroic" effort on Yahoo's part to build the system. "Engineers and technologists from throughout Yahoo aligned to build the colossal 'brain' that powers our new platform and will allow us to innovate in search marketing more rapidly than ever before," Semel said in the statement.

He also notes, indirectly, that Yahoo isn't quite dead yet.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 10:41 AM | Permalink

December 26, 2006

Panama not enough? Of course not.

Business Week takes a stab at advising Yahoo about how it should take on Google in "Why Yahoo's Panama Won't Be Enough."

Along with the requisite "peanut butter" references, the story mentions Yahoo's efforts in brand advertising and behavioral targeting, as well as its investment in the Right Media ad exchange and its emphasis on monetizing non-premium inventory.

So clearly, Yahoo agrees with the author that it should not be putting all its eggs in the Panama basket.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 2:25 PM | Permalink

December 12, 2006

Panama Now Open to New U.S. Advertisers

An earlier-than-expected launch in October for existing Yahoo advertisers has apparently gone well, since Yahoo today opened up the platform to new U.S. advertisers. The move will still be optional, and does not yet include the new ranking algorithm, which will be put in place in the first quarter.

Yahoo first provided details on Panama in May, with an intended launch in the third quarter. That launch date was pushed back to Q4 in July, drawing the ire of Wall Street. Yahoo pushed hard to have a launch of some kind ready for its October investor call to prevent a recurrence of that.

One of the underlying ideas of Panama is a desire to simplify the platform for new users, while retaining and building up advanced features for experienced users, according to John Slade, Yahoo's senior director of product management. To that end, Yahoo has made initial sign-up a 5-step process, which only asks advertisers for minimal details to get a campaign up and running quickly.

"We're not asking users to learn to use all the bells and whistles the first time. Our testing has shown that people are not interested in learning the full complexity right away," Slade said.

New users can get things rolling by providing regional targeting preferences, desired keywords, campaign budget, and ad copy for their first ad. Then the advertiser only needs to supply a credit card to launch the campaign. On subsequent log-ins, advertisers will be presented with the more advanced features.

Yahoo also streamlined its ad activation process, to get new ads online shortly after they are submitted, in most cases. Editorial guidelines will be maintained, Slade said, especially in certain sensitive categories.

The keyword selection algorithms are new to Panama, with collaborative filtering to recommend more relevant keywords, tailored to the campaign's budget. The system is designed to prevent advertisers who set a low budget from bidding on popular keywords that will be too expensive to be effective within that budget, Slade said. Tools that highlight the interactions between keywords, bid prices, and daily budgets are available, but not highlighted to first-time users.

Yahoo has created an extensive library of help content and tutorials, available in an Upgrade Center on its site.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 1:30 AM | Permalink

November 3, 2006

Yahoo Sending Panama Invites Out

I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable this morning that Yahoo! Search Marketing Version 2.0 (Panama) Invites Going Out. I was one of the first to be invited to upgrade to the Panama release, but outside of my group, it appears that now others who have requested the upgrade are now receiving them. Wondering what the process for upgrading is? Well, (1) it takes about 8 hours for the upgrade to happen, so it while you do not need to make changes to your account and (2) keyword listings with zero impressions for past 13 months or zero clicks for past 18 months will not be transferred over to new system. I have documented my experience with upgrading to Panama here.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:20 AM | Permalink

October 18, 2006

Google To Own 25% Of 2006 Online Ad Revenue

An eMarketer.com report estimates that Google will account for twenty-five percent of all online ad revenue. Google's share continues to increase (65% increase YoY) while Yahoo's growth continues to decrease, eMarketer says. Google first surpassed Yahoo in ad revenue back in 2005, but barely. Google in 2006 is expected to earn over $4 billion in ad revenue but Yahoo has just $2.9 billion according to eMarketer.com.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:24 AM | Permalink

October 17, 2006

Yahoo Releases New "Panama" Search Advertising System Early

Yahoo's long-anticipated next-generation search advertising platform, Panama, has now gone live.

I've been at Yahoo for the past two days testing it and understanding how it works from those who built the new system. My raw notes are here on Search Engine Roundtable. Below are highlights of the new system.

The new system is now live for use
It's been in internal testing for months
Invites to use the new system begin next week. Want in on that early? Make a request using this form.
Testing accounts to be provided.
Voluntary migration of current customers will happen over next few months.
Mandatory migration will happen some time after first of the year.
New customers will go into the existing "old" system Yahoo inherited from Overture until they are migrated.
Using the new system means you tap into the new user interface. However, the "quality index" factor for ranking ads does not start until some time in Q1 2007. Notifications of this change will be sent out.
The new interface is snappier, more flexible and very sleek and user friendly.
There are bugs and things but they can fix them much more rapidly now, Yahoo says.
Yahoo promises faster ad approval
New system allows for start and end dates for campaigns but no dayparting yet.
Very cool AJAX-based spending caps, budgeting and forecasting interfaces that show impressions as you increase your bid.
Analytics and conversion tracking (with latent conversions) tracking capability provided.
Very advanced geotargeting, which means purchasing local sponsored search as a separate product may go away.
Quality Index (1 to 5 graphical bar scale) shown to advertisers now, so they can prepare their ads for when the ranking factors are used in Q1 2007.
Quality Index made up of clickthrough rate, keywords related to ad copy, display URL, landing page and other factors
Because of Quality Index & geotargeting, pricing models do change
APIs won't be completely free
The process of development of Panama is named Roosevelt. It allows them to rapidly add features and expand the YSM program quickly to mobile, video, local, etc.

Here are some screenshots. The dashboard:

The geotargeting feature:

The interactive pricing/volume feature:

Again, more details and rough notes at the Search Engine Roundtable. Andrew Goodman also has a write-up now here: No Turning Back: Panama Goes Live.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 5:45 PM | Permalink

October 12, 2006

Bug Leaves Advertisers Unable To Change Ads On Yahoo

As I reported at reported at Search Engine Roundtable twice already, Yahoo has left their search advertising customers out to dry.

Advertisers and agencies are reporting they are unable to properly manage their accounts due to a 3+ day old bug in the Yahoo Search Marketing system.

Email responses back to Yahoo customers state that Yahoo is aware of the problem but have "no estimated date or time frame for the issue to be resolved."

One person emailed Search Engine Watch saying, "Users are unable to view the remaining balance in their accounts, nor are we able to modify or add listings."

Some of the Yahoo reps have been instructing clients to email them so that they can make the necessary changes for them. Just nuts! This must be something very serious for them to not be able to revert back to a previous coding state.

Having the same issue and want to discuss? Join our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, Yahoo PPC management crash.

Postscript: Yahoo commented at our forums saying it has been fixed.

We've been experiencing some technical difficulties that were impacting the editorial tools in our search advertising UI but are happy to report that these systems are back up and running. Thanks for your patience.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:16 AM | Permalink

October 11, 2006

Yahoo Hurting While Google Healthier Than Ever

The NY Times has an article named Yahoo's Growth Being Eroded by New Rivals (free version available at (IHT.com). The article goes through how Yahoo is suffering and lagging behind its competitors. (1) They made a bid at YouTube but those deals broke down, according to the article, and Google "swooped" them up. (2) The new Yahoo search ad system, Panama, is over a year delayed. This "delay has sucked up the company's engineering resources and prevented it from developing new advertising products."

Based on my coverage of Yahoo over the past year, it seems like webmasters, SEOs, and industry folks have become less and less interested with the company.

The LA Times has an article this morning that goes on the same theme. If you can't get to the article, try going through Google News to gain free access, it worked for me.

Postscript From Greg Sterling:

This is not the kind of publicity you want to see if you're on the PR team. While it's true that Google has momentum and Yahoo may need a kind of "shot in the arm," what people forget is that Yahoo is the largest site on the Internet with the most monthly uniques.

It also has a bunch of market-leading properties including mail, finance and local (among others). Mail is also the number one mobile site.

Google, though a very dynamic and powerful company with lots of momentum, is not without its challenges and vulnerabilities. If anything the YouTube acquisition was an admission of some of those. Though, by the same token, Google now has great opportunity with YouTube.

I'm not sure, from where I sit, how many problems identified in the Saul Hansell Times piece are real and how many are simply perceived. But perception does influence reality.

Yahoo is a little like a strong sports team that happens to be in a bit of a slump right now.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:40 AM | Permalink

October 4, 2006

Yahoo Rolls Out PPC Ads In Mobile Search Results

Yahoo is launching (in beta) paid-search ads in mobile in the U.S. and expanding its test program in the U.K. Only a "select group of advertisers" are initially included (it's not clear what the criteria are). But the number of advertisers will expand over time as the program rolls out.

According to the press release, "consumers will be able to click on the sponsored search results to go to the advertisers' mobile web site or a landing page to get more information about the advertisers' offerings, including the ability to call the advertiser."

Yahoo had already been running tests of mobile PPC ads in the U.K. and Japan.

According to CTIA-The Wireless Association, there are more than 194 million wireless subscribers in the U.S., with a market penetration rate of about 65%. In other countries, especially Northern Europe, penetration rates exceed 100%. And China claims over 400 million mobile phone subscribers.

Indeed, as Yahoo's Terry Semel and Google's Eric Schmidt have now pointed out multiple times (I'm paraphrasing), "There are more wireless devices in the world than PCs." As a result there's a great deal at stake in developing a viable mobile search capability and the advertising that goes with it.

According to an article today in MediaPost, which points to a study by mobile research firm M:Metrics, response rates to text (SMS) ads on mobile phones are "only" 7% vs. 29.1% or more in countries in Europe where mobile text ads are more common. Obviously a response rate of 7% is higher than average response rates to sponsored search online. There are several competing studies, however, that argue consumers are least interested in advertising in SMS vs. other mobile formats.

Not to confuse matters, Yahoo's new mobile PPC launch is not about SMS. Rather it's sponsored ads in mobile web search results.

Earlier this week mobile marketing firm Enpocket released the results of a study conducted by Harris Interactive with 1,200 mobile users in the U.S. Europe and India. The survey found general acceptance of mobile advertising deemed "relevant" by consumers. A majority of respondents (78%) said that "they would be happy to receive advertising that is tailored to their interests. Of those, 64 percent would be willing to provide personal details to be analyzed to improve relevance of targeted ads."

In general response rates in mobile tend to be higher than online because of relevance and less ad clutter -- there are fewer competing advertisers to click on (or call). PPCall firm Ingenio has repeatedly cited very high PPCall response rates for its advertisers in mobile, partly for that reason.

Mobile advertising is also great opportunity for local search. People are often looking for local information when they're on the go and have traditionally had to rely on directory assistance (DA), which has been limited by "what city, what listing?" rather than offering the open-ended ability to conduct a category search. Newer services are seeking to broaden the scope of DA, which is starting to evolve into voice-enabled mobile search. Yahoo already offers most of its properties on mobile devices and in June of this year research firm Telephia found that Yahoo Mail was the most visited site by mobile users.

Google shows PPC ads on mobile search results as well.

Posted by Greg Sterling at 9:07 AM | Permalink

September 19, 2006

Yahoo CEO Says Ad Growth Slowing Down; Ask.com To Increase Market Share

The Wall Street Journal reports that Terry Semel, Yahoo's CEO, has warned that online advertising growth will be slowing in automotive and financial services industries. He said that there is still growth, but "but they're not growing as quickly as we might have hoped at this point in time," Semel said. On that news, Yahoo's shared dropped $3.47, or 12%, to $25.54.

Barry Diller, CEO of IAC, said he can see Ask.com gaining market share, about 8 to 10 percent share. More details on that story at Reuters.com.

Postscript From Danny: See my follow-up post, Again, The Need For Search Ad Revenue To Stand Alone.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 12:21 PM | Permalink

September 13, 2006

Yahoo Displaying Checkout Icons In Search Ads

Andrew Goodman spotted Yahoo placing little shopping cart icons in some of the sponsored listings for eBay ads. Just like how Google has implemented it for those AdWords advertisers who have signed up with Google Checkout, Yahoo seems to be displaying those icons near the ads. I don't have any more details at the time, but you can see a screen capture at Traffick.com.

Postscript: Search Engine Journal has an update on this, where a Yahoo representative has confirmed that they "are testing various PayPal icons in some of our Yahoo.com sponsored search results. These icons are designed to help buyers identify where they can use PayPal to make purchases.” The spokesperson continued, "We are currently evaluating how users respond to icons in our sponsored search listings to determine whether such icons improve the user experience and help them identify merchant capabilities that are important to them.”

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:48 AM | Permalink

August 29, 2006

New Search Patent Filings: August 29, 2006 - Yahoo looks at Interactive TV and VOIP

Yahoo patent filings include one detailing bidding for placement in paid search filed this past April, another that details a very interactive environment for watching television programming, a third describing a method of soliciting consumer reviews, and a granted patent for a Voice Over IP (VOIP) system that doesn't require Telephony Interface Cards.

Microsoft had two new patent applications published, including one which provides a means of suggesting alternative spellings for words, and another that interacts with searchers to help them construct queries.

IBM filed a patent application for building social networks within a business organization, and was granted a patent for a method of checking pages shown in search results for viruses.

America Online looks at the classification of queries in a manner which seems very similar to the editorial opinion decisions made in a recently granted Google patent.

Mobile search company Geovector comes up with a way to make quick hyperlinked image maps from mobile phones with cameras.

Yahoo

System and method for enabling multi-element bidding for influencing a position on a search result list generated by a computer network search engine Invented by Ted Meisel, Peter Savich and Thomas A. Soulanille Assigned to Overture US Patent Application 20060190354 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on April 24, 2006

Abstract

A system and method for enabling information providers using a computer network such as the Internet to influence a position for a search listing within a search result list generated by an Internet search engine. A database stores accounts for the network information providers. Each account contains contact and billing information for a network information provider. In addition, each account contains at least one search listing having at least three components: a description, a search term comprising one or more keywords, and a bid amount. The network information provider may add, delete, or modify a search listing after authenticated login. A search term relevant to the content of the web site or other information source to be listed is first selected. A search listing includes the search term and a description. A bidding process occurs when the network information provider enters a new bid amount for a search listing. The system and method then compares the bid amount with all other bid amounts for the same search term, and generates a rank value for all search listings having that search term. The rank value determines where the listing will appear on the search results list page that is generated in response to a query of the search term by a searcher.

Framework for providing ancillary content in a television environment Invented by Michael Mills, Philip Mckay, Michael Hoch, Kumiko Tanaka Toft, and Rod Perkins US Patent Application 20060184579 Published August 17, 2006 Filed on January 5, 2006

Abstract

The present invention provides functionality for retrieving ancillary content associated with the content delivered to a given user's client device. According to one embodiment, the method of the present invention comprises retrieving the context of a given user and identifying a plurality of characteristics associated with the user's context. The one or more characteristics associated with the user's context are displayed to the user and the user may select from the displayed characteristics. One or more items of content are retrieved based upon the user's selection and presented to the user on the user's client device.

Group polling for consumer review Invented by Norman Shi Assigned to Yahoo US Patent Application 20060190475 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on December 20, 2005

Abstract

Using a computer system comprising clients at which users interface to the computer system and at least one review server that maintains a collection of reviews, each associated with a presentation, a method of collecting the reviews including providing a first presentation to a first user via a first client associated with the first user; maintaining a trust network linking the first user to the other users in the trust network; receiving a request for a review from the first user via the first client; routing a request for a review to the users in the trust network who are linked to the first user in the trust network; and saving at least some of the returned reviews in the collection of review.

Voice integrated VOIP system Invented by Madhu Yarlagadda, Patrick Loo and David H. Nakayama Assigned to Yahoo United States Patent 7,095,733 Granted August 22, 2006 Filed on September 11, 2000

Abstract

An integrated VoIP unified message processing system includes a voice platform that processes data in native VoIP format. There is no use of hardware telephone interface cards (TICs) or software transcoding to transform data to PCM or other formats. Cost reductions are achieved by the elimination of expensive dedicated hardware and scalability is achieved by obviating the need for software transcoding.

Microsoft

Query spelling correction method and system Invented by Justin Harmon, Kyle G. Peltonen and Shajan Dasan Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060190447 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on February 22, 2005

Abstract

A method and system for providing to a user a set of alternative query suggestions is disclosed. The method, system and computer readable medium product in accordance with embodiments of the invention includes generating an index of all words in a corpus of documents available to the application, generating a popularity table for the index having a popularity value for each word in the index based on occurrences of the word in the corpus, comparing each entry in the popularity table to suggestions from a word generator, compiling a lexicon of word generator suggestion words that are found in the popularity table, submitting each word in the search query to the word generator to determine suggestion words, and displaying to the user one or more of the suggestion words from the lexicon that are more popular than the query word.

Dynamic client interaction for search Invented by Matthew R. Richardson and Robert J. Ragno Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060190436 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on June 23, 2005

Abstract

A system for guiding a search for information is presented. The system comprises a user interface that accepts a phrase and receives at least one suggestion based at least in part on the phrase. The system also includes a phrase suggestion engine that matches the phrase with the at least one suggestion. Methods of using the system are also provided.

IBM

Method, system and program product for building social networks Invented by Margaret A. Strong and Albert Tien Yuen Wong Assigned to IBM US Patent Application 20060190536 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on February 23, 2005

Abstract

Under the present invention, a user with an existing profile page who desires to have a social network built will first submit a subscription request. If approved, an existing contact list such as a chat list or the like for the user will be compared to existing contact lists for other subscribing users to establish commonalities. Based on such commonalities, a configurable social network of contacts is built. Using a graphical representation of the social network, the user can (among other things) provide or read testimonials about the contacts therein; access the profile pages for the contacts; provide or read "ratings" for the contacts; be provided with levels/degrees of separation between the contacts; validate trusts and business relationships, etc.

Virus checking and reporting for computer database search results Invented by Cary Lee Bates, Robert James Crenshaw, Paul Reuben Day and John Matthew Santosuosso Assigned to IBM United States Patent 7,096,215 Granted August 22, 2006 Filed on January 13, 2004

Abstract

An apparatus, program product and method integrate virus checking functionality into a computer database search environment to assist in protecting a user computer from contracting a computer virus when accessing search results. The generation of a display representation of a result set generated in response to a search request may be based at least in part upon virus status information associated with at least a portion of a plurality of result records identified in the generated result set. Moreover, an apparatus, program product, and method configure a first computer to receive virus status information generated by a plurality of computers, with such received virus status information stored in a virus database that is accessible by the first computer.

America Online

Web query classification Invented by Abdur R. Chowdhury, Steven Michael Beitzel, David Dolan Lewis and Aleksander Kolcz US Patent Application 20060190439 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on January 27, 2006

Abstract

A query phrase may be automatically classified to one or more topics of interest (e.g., categories) to assist in routing the query phrase to one or more appropriate backend databases. A selectional preference query classification technique may be used to classify the query phrase based on a comparison between the query phrase and patterns of query phrases. Additionally, or alternatively, a combination of query classification techniques may be used to classify the query phrase. Topical classification of a query phrase also may be used to assist a search system in delivering auxiliary information to a user who entered the query phrase. Advertisements, for instance, may be tailored based on classification rather than query keywords.

Geovector

Imaging systems including hyperlink associations Invented by Thomas William Ellenby, Peter Malcolm Ellenby and John Ellenby Assigned to GeoVector Corporation US Patent Application 20060190812 Published August 24, 2006 Filed on February 22, 2005

Abstract

Computer pointing systems include schemes for producing image map type hyperlinks which are associated and stored integrally with image data from which they are derived. An object being addressed by a pointing system of is implicitly identified by way of its location and position relative to the pointing system. A geometric definition which corresponds to space substantially occupied by the addressed object is rotated appropriately such that it perspective matches that of the imaging station. When an image is captured, the image data (pixel data) is recorded and associated with image map objects which may include network addresses such as a URL. On reply, these images automatically present network hyperlinks to a user whereby the user can click on an image field and cause a browser application to be directed to a network resource.

My usual reminder about patents: Some of the processes and technology described in patents are created in house, and some are developed with the assistance of contractors and partners. A percentage are never developed in a tangible manner, but may serve as a way to attempt to exclude others from using the technology, or even to possibly mislead competitors into exploring an area that they might not have an interest in (sometimes skepticism is good.)

There are times when a Google or Yahoo acquires a company to gain access to the intellectual property of that company, or the intellectual prowess and expertise of that company's employees. And sometimes patents are just purchased.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Technology & Relevancy area of the Search Engine Watch Forums.

Posted by Bill Slawski at 2:33 PM | Permalink

August 24, 2006

Yahoo's Panama Release Coming Sooner Then Expected?

Yahoo Search Marketing advertisers have been receiving emails from Yahoo urging them to update their profile information because their "account will soon be completely upgraded and redesigned, providing you with a number of advanced features that will help you better connect to Yahoo's audience." So should we expect that the delayed Panama release is to be expected early? I am not sure 100%, but more details at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:59 AM | Permalink

August 16, 2006

Yahoo Class Action Settlement Information Released

Details of the Yahoo class action settlement have been posted at checkmatesettlement.com. What you need to know right now is:

(1) You have until October 14, 2006 to submit a written statement requesting exclusion from the Class (specific guidelines are enclosed in the notice), if you want to be excluded from the class.

(2) You have until November 20, 2006 to download the "Assertion of Right to Participate in Additional Claims Review Process Form" from this site and submit it by registered or certified mail, if you want to participate in the class and participate in the claims review process.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:37 AM | Permalink

August 15, 2006

103 Links About SES San Jose 2006 (AKA The Big Recap)

Couldn't make it to last week's monster Search Engine Strategies show in San Jose? Well, maybe next time! In the meantime, I've compiled a list of coverage from across the web, even somewhat organized into topic areas.

Our San Jose show is always tough for me, as I arrive a week earlier to visit with the various major search engines out there. That means two weeks of news and email to dig out from, since you can never get it all done on the road. All that digging out means I know I don't have everything listed below. But you'll find plenty to keep you entertained.

General Recaps

SES 2006: Google Ã Go-Go, ClickZ
SES 2006 Videos, V7N
Our Baby is Growing Up, Search Engine Guide
SES San Jose 2006 Coverage Round Up, Search Engine Lowdown
Google search ads find momentum, USA Today
Surviving SES San Jose, Internet Search Engine Database
SES 2006 Week in Review, WebProNews
The State of Search Marketing: Observations from Search Engine Strategies San Jose 2006, Publishing 2.0

Eric Schmidt Appearance

Daily SearchCast, August 9, 2006: Special Edition, A Conversation With Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Search Engine Watch
A Conversation With Google CEO Eric Schmidt, Search Engine Roundtable
Google CEO Eric Schmidt at SES San Jose, Marketing Pilgrim
Google's Eric Schmidt at SES From The Search Perch, Search Engine Journal
Schmidt: Google Closer to The Perfect Answer, InternetNews.com
Google says it won't pull an AOL, News.com
Google's Schmidt Extends Hand to Advertisers, ClickZ
Q&A With Press, Marketing Pilgrim (very good write-up on things the press asked Schmidt after his talk with Danny on stage)
Top 5 Strange Things Google's CEO Said Today, Google Watch
Google CEO Eric Schmidt: 'all world's information includes personal information, ZDNet
Eric Schmidt, Measurable Advertising & AJAX, ClickZ
Google CEO Eric Schmidt Tackles Net Neutrality and AJAX, AJAXWorld
Why Doesn't Google Create a Unified Interface for Its Apps?, Google Watch

Eric Schmidt & Search Privacy

Google to Keep Storing Search Requests, Associated Press
Google sees privacy threats, Reuters
Google's Schmidt on AOL Debacle
Will Google Keep Minority Report from Happening? Eric Schmidt's Chat with Danny Sullivan, Natural Search Blog
Eric Schmidt on Enabling Google Users to Monetize Their Own Click Stream Data, Search Engine Lowdown
Your Life as an Open Book, New York Times
AOL Is Caught in Its Own Long Tail, Information Today
Google vs. government, San Francisco Chronicle

Click Fraud Panel & Related Coverage

Auditing Paid Listings and Click Fraud Issues, Search Engine Roundtable
Yahoo & Google Commit To An Other Independent Click Fraud Audit At SES, Search Engine Watch Blog
Click Fraud: What does Google fear?, ZDNet
Google claims click fraud audits flawed, BtoB Magazine
Google to Eventually Disclose More Click Fraud Data, Google Watch
Google's Questionable Clicks, Forbes
Google Claims Auditors Overstate Click Fraud Problem, Information Week
SES on Click Fraud: Industry collaboration, or vested interests?, ZDNet

Yahoo's Panama Ad Platform Preview

Yahoo Shows Off New Ad System At SES, V7N
Yahoo! Maps Out 'Panama' with SES Preview, SearchViews
Yahoo's Project Panama, Slated for Q4 Launch, Unveiled at SES, Search Engine Lowdown
Yahoo Unveils New Ad Platform Features, Google Watch
Yahoo Demos New Ad Platform, Red Herring

Social Search & Related Topics

Social Search Overview: Yahoo!, Windows Live & Eurekster, Search Engine Roundtable
Social Search: Up Close With Yahoo!, Search Engine Roundtable
Marketing with Social Media, WebProNews
Leveraging Social Media (MySpace, YouTube, & Other Social Networks), Search Engine Roundtable
Social Search: Up Close With Google (Google Co-op), Search Engine Roundtable
Improvements to Google Co-Op Coming Soon, Google Watch
SEM Via Communities, Wikipedia & Tagging, Search Engine Roundtable
Notes on the ClickZ Track at SES, ClickZ

Organic Listings Sessions

Can You Please Them All? (Google, Yahoo!, MSN & Ask.com), Search Engine Roundtable
SES: SE Algorithms: Can You Please Them All?, WebProNews
SES 2006: Importance Of Quality Scores, WebProNews
Duplicate Content and Multiple Site Issues, Search Engine Roundtable
Blog and Feed Search SEO, Search Engine Roundtable
The Bot Obedience Course - New Yahoo! Site Explorer Tool Announced, Search Engine Roundtable
Yahoo Releases Updates To Site Explorer, Search Engine Watch Blog
Search Engine Q&A On Links (Ramez MSN Search, Kaushal Ask.com, Adam Google & Rajat Yahoo!), Search Engine Roundtable
Organic Listing Forums (Danny Sullivan In Costume), Search Engine Roundtable

Search Advertising Sessions

Compare & Contrast: Ad Program Strategies, Search Engine Roundtable
Does Demographic Targeting Matter?, Search Engine Roundtable
Domaining & Address Bar Driven Traffic, Search Engine Roundtable
Search Arbitrage Issues, Search Engine Roundtable
Search Algorithm Research, Search Engine Roundtable
Linking Strategies, Search Engine Roundtable
Link Baiting & Viral Search Success, Search Engine Roundtable
Search and Branding, Search Engine Roundtable

Issues Sessions

Search Engines: Friend or Foe?, Search Engine Roundtable
From the Halls of SES West: "Search Engines: Friend or Foe", SearchViews
SES 2006: Search Engines, Friend Or Foe automated blog and ping, Tagslammer
Blogging for the search engines, Searchblog

News, Blogs & Public Relations

Reputation Monitoring & Management, Search Engine Roundtable
News Search SEO, Search Engine Roundtable
SES 2006: Optimizing Your Feed, WebProNews
SES: Blog/Feed SEO: Watch Out For Bullets, WebProNews

Big Sites/Budget Sessions

Big Site Big Brand SEM, Search Engine Roundtable
When Search Engines Do Search Marketing (AOL, Business.com, Yahoo! & Local.com), Search Engine Roundtable
The Vice Presidents Of Search Marketing, Search Engine Roundtable

Small Sites/Budget Sessions

Big Ideas For Small Sites & Small Budgets, Search Engine Roundtable
SEM for Non-Profits & Charities, Search Engine Roundtable
Pricing & Contracts For The Small SEM Shop, Search Engine Roundtable

Conversion & Metrics

Vendor Chat on Measuring Success, Search Engine Roundtable
Usability & SEO - Two Wins for the Price of One, Search Engine Roundtable

Other Sessions

Searcher Behavior Research Update, Search Engine Roundtable
Communicating With Customers, Search Engine Roundtable
Searchonomics: Serious & Fun Stats, Search Engine Roundtable
The Search Laboratories, Search Engine Roundtable
Search APIs (Yahoo! Developer Network, YSM API, Google AJAX API & AdWords API), Search Engine Roundtable
Balancing Organic and Paid Listings, Search Engine Roundtable

Google Dance & Parties & Pictures

On Fire at SES, The Ask.com Blog
Google Dance V Photos, Online Marketing Blog
My Bet on WebmasterRadio, SEOmoz
Googledance 2006, Google Blogoscoped
Google Dance Photos 2006, V7N
All Jim's SES San Jose 2006 Pictures - where's yours?, Jim Boykin
Google Dance Photos and Google Food, Search Engine Journal
Google Dance 2006 Photos, ClickZ
Search Engine Strategies Photos, Marketing Pilgrim
SES San Jose 2006 - Yahoo and Ask Party Pics, Jim Boykin
My SES San Jose 2006 Photos & Videos, Danny Sullivan
SES San Jose 2006 Pictures, Search Marketing Gurus
Drue at Google Dance 2006 - Googleplex was Hopping, Drue Kataoka
Google Dance 2006, Google

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:50 PM | Permalink

July 19, 2006

Yahoo Delays Launch Of New Ad System, "Panama"

ClickZ reports that Yahoo's new ad system, aka Panama, will not be launching in the 3rd quarter. They now estimate a delayed launch date of the 4th quarter. The new ad system was reported on by Danny back in early May. ClickZ has more details on how the delayed launch has affected the company's stock.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:15 AM | Permalink

July 5, 2006

New Search Patent Applications: July 5, 2006 - Google Coming to a Shopping Mall Near You

Google files patents for shopping offline with online assistance, a secondary map in Google Maps, and an updated review aggregator. Yahoo adds a patent application for search results PPC advertising, and managing blog content. Microsoft looks to anchor text to help train a machine learning classification system when user behavior data isn't available. AOL details a method of filtering search results using ontologies and expert domains for queries. IBM explains differences in how images can be indexed, and presents a method based upon the semantic meanings of pictures. Become, Inc., describes how different links can be assigned different values while using a link-based ranking system.

Google

The title to this first patent filing is a little misleading, in that it encompasses a much broader range of activities than just serving coupons or advertising. It's the first patent filing I've seen that includes island resorts, shopping malls, and chinese restaurants as part of the "Exemplary System Architecture." It's a shopping system that provides information about offline shopping, including real time data, such as waiting times in lines, menu specials, products and services available by price range and in stock availability, walking directions combined with shopping lists, and much more. Imagine shopping kiosks at your local shopping mall that can be used as part of this system, you have part of the broader picture in place.

Generating and/or serving dynamic promotional offers such as coupons and advertisements Invented by Ashutosh Garg and Allen Romero US Patent Application 20060143080 Published on June 29, 2006 Filed on December 29, 2004

Abstract

A promotional offer may be generated by (i) accepting information concerning at least one of (A) a search query entered, at a client device, by a user, (B) an item or establishment which is the subject of a search result selected by a user using a client device, (C) one or more items or establishments which are elements of a shopping session summary provided to a user via a client device, (ii) determining a promotional offer to serve using at least the accepted search query information, and (iii) determining terms of the promotional offer using at least one of (A) a location of the client device, (B) a distance from the client device to an establishment associated with the promotional offer, and (C) a distance from the client device to an establishment competing with the establishment associated with the promotional offer, (D) an inventory, at an establishment associated with the promotional offer, of the goods which the promotional offer concerns, (E) a capacity, at an establishment associated with the promotional offer, to provide the services which the promotional offer concerns, (F) a level of excess capacity, at an establishment associated with the promotional offer, to provide the services which the promotional offer concerns, (G) a perishability of goods which the promotional offer concerns, and (H) a remaining shelf-life of goods which the promotional offer concerns.

The Google Map team comes out with another patent filing, and this one may have already been implemented in the system. If you've seen a second map within a Google Map that allows for moving a view frame, or helping with zooming in on specific areas, you'll have a sense of what they are describing here.

Secondary map in digital mapping system Invented by Jens Eilstrup Rasmussen, Bret Steven Taylor, and Lars Eilstrup Rasmussen US Patent Application 20060139375 Published on June 29, 2006 Filed on December 29, 2005

Abstract

Digital mapping techniques are disclosed that provide more flexibility to the user through the use of multiple views of map information, including a secondary map and a main map. The secondary map can provide the user with either a zoomed out or in relative to the main map, or a different type of map view (e.g., satellite images). The secondary map can be turned on and off by the user. The secondary map may include one or more viewing frames that indicate views (e.g., current and alternate views) of the main map. The user can move the main map, viewing frame, or secondary map to achieve desired map views. During such movement, the relationship between the main and secondary maps can be synchronous, partially synchronous, or serial.

Very similar to another patent application from a couple of weeks ago, Method and system for finding and aggregating reviews for a product, and filed on the same day, this patent application adds an inventor and some changes to the title, filing class, and some text within the claims and summary. The drawings and detailed description of the process appear to be substantially the same except for renumbering and some very minor edits.

Method, system and graphical user interface for providing reviews for a product Invented by Jan Matthias Ruhl, Mayur D. Datar, and Jessica Yoko Wai-min Lee US Patent Application 20060143158 Published on June 29, 2006 Filed on December 14, 2004

Abstract

The embodiments disclosed herein include new, more efficient ways to collect product reviews from the Internet, aggregate reviews for the same product, and provide an aggregated review to end users in a searchable format. One aspect of the invention is a graphical user interface on a computer that includes a plurality of portions of reviews for a product and a search input area for entering search terms to search for reviews of the product that contain the search terms.

Yahoo

This first Yahoo patent application went quickly from filing to publication in four months. This appears to describe the pay-for-performance search advertising process presently in place on Yahoo.

System and method for influencing a position on a search result list generated by a computer network search engine Invented by Darren J. Davis, Matthew Derer, Johann Garcia, Larry Greco, Tod E. Kurt, Thomas Kwong, Jonathan C. Lee, Ka Luk Lee, Preston Pfarner, and Steve Skovran Assigned to Overture Services, Inc. US Patent Application 20060143096 Published on June 29, 2006 Filed on February 22, 2006

Abstract

A system and method for enabling information providers using a computer network such as the Internet to influence a position for a search listing within a search result list generated by an Internet search engine. The system and method of the present invention provides a database having accounts for the network information providers. Each account contains at least one search listing having at least three components: a description, a search term comprising one or more keywords, and a bid amount. The network information provider may add, delete, or modify a search listing after logging into his or her account via an authentication process. The network information provider influences the position for a search listing through a continuous online competitive bidding process. The bidding process occurs when the network information provider enters a new bid amount, which is preferably a money amount, for a search listing. The system then compares this bid amount with all other bid amounts for the same search term, and generates a rank value for all search listings having that search term. The rank value generated by the bidding process determines where the network information providers listing will appear on the search results list page that is generated in response to a query of the search term by a searcher located at a client computer on the computer network. A higher bid by a network information provider will result in a higher rank value and a more advantageous placement.

Bitmask access for managing blog content Invented by Vijay S. Ramachandran and Hitesh S. Shah Assigned to Yahoo US Patent Application 20060143208 Published on June 29, 2006 Filed on December 29, 2004

Abstract

Methods, devices, and systems are directed towards managing a database using moderator determined attributes, and a contributor employable bitmask. In one embodiment, the database is employable for use in managing a weblog (blog). The bitmask is configured to enable contributors of a content item to modify selected options of an attribute for the provided content item. In one embodiment the bitmask is stored in the database and is associated with the content item in the database. By enabling a contributor to directly control options associated with an attribute for the content item, changes to selected attributes of the database's content may be made with minimum interaction with a database administrator. For example, in one embodiment, the contributor may directly control anonymity associated with the provided content item, access to the provided content item, and how the provided content items is displayed.

Microsoft

Machine learning classifiers may rely upon user behavior such as click-throughs and user reviews to help them rank pages in response to queries. This kind of reliance may mean that pages lacking user behavior information may fail to be ranked, and may not be presented to users so that they can gain that type of feedback. This Microsoft patent application describes the use of a second set of training data that doesn't depend upon user interaction, but rather looks at anchor text "to be a surrogate for the missing user feedback data."

System and method for using anchor text as training data for classifier-based search systems Invented by Harr Chen, Adwait Ratnaparkhi, Sonja S. Knoll, and Hsiao-Wuen Hon Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060143254 Published on June 29, 2006 Filed on December 24, 2004

Abstract

A computer implemented information retrieval system is provided. The system includes a user input configured to receive a user query relative to the corpus. A machine learning classifier is trained with a first set of training data comprising anchor text relative to at least some of the documents in the corpus. A processing unit is adapted to interact with the classifier to obtain search results relative to the query using the machine learning classifier. In some aspects, the classifier is also trained with a second set of training data. A method of integrating a new document into a corpus of documents is also provided. A method of training a machine learning classifier for retrieving documents from a corpus using two distinct types of training data is also provided.

AOL

This next document looks at filtering search results based upon assigned categories for each of the results, comparisons of quality between them, and the use of expert domains for specific queries.

Filtering search results Invented by Abdur R. Chowdhury and Gregory S. Pass US Patent Application 20060143159 Published on June 29, 2006 Filed on December 29, 2004

Abstract

Search results may be sorted or filtered based on scores assigned to the search results. For example, scores may be assigned to the search results based on characteristics of surrogate representations of the search results, which are relatively short summaries or excerpts of the search result that may be presented in place of the search results themselves, and those assigned scores may be used to sort or filter the search results. In one example of filtering, pairs of search results may be examined to identify significant drops in quality between the search results, which is indicated by a large relative or absolute difference in the scores of the search results. Search results with scores that indicate ranks that are lower than a lower ranked search result of the pair of search results may be eliminated when the difference between the scores assigned to the pair of search results exceeds a maximum allowable difference.

IBM

System and method for measuring image similarity based on semantic meaning Invented by Aleksandra Mojsilovic, Bernice Rogowitz, and Jose Gomes Assigned to IBM US Patent Application 20060143176 Published on June 29, 2006 Filed on February 21, 2006

Abstract

A method includes deriving a plurality of semantic categories for representing important semantic cues in images, where each semantic category is modeled through a combination of perceptual features that define the semantics of that category and that discriminate that category from other categories; for each semantic category, forming a set of the perceptual features comprising required features and frequently occurring features; comparing an image to said semantic categories; and classifying said image as belonging to one of said semantic categories if all of the required features and at least one of the frequently occurring features for that semantic category are present in said image. A database contains image information, where the image information includes at least one of already classified images, network locations of already classified images and documents containing already classified images. The database is searched for images matching an input query, comprising, e.g., an image, text, or both.

Become, Inc.

Method for assigning relative quality scores to a collection of linked documents Invented by Rohit Kaul, Marcin Kadluczka, Yeogirl Yun, and Seong-Gon Kim Assigned to Become, Inc. US Patent Application 20060143197 Published on June 29, 2006 Filed on December 23, 2005

Abstract

A method for assigning relative quality scores to a collection of linked documents is presented. The method includes constructing a spring network according to a connectivity graph of a linked database and determining the strength of inter-nodal springs based on the link structure of the network and the displacements on end-nodes. The method may further include computing the displacements of the nodes in a spring network through an iterative process and obtaining the quality scores for documents from the converged displacements of nodes. The method may also include obtaining the relative quality scores for groups of documents. The method may further include assigning topic-specific quality scores to documents in a linked database.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Technology & Relevancy area of the Search Engine Watch Forums.

Posted by Bill Slawski at 1:06 PM | Permalink

June 30, 2006

MSN Search To Officially Not Use Yahoo Search Marketing For Sponsored Search July 1

I reported over the Search Engine Roundtable that Yahoo's and MSN's relationship is coming to an official end this month. The official Yahoo announcement can be seen here and it states, "MSN's U.S. search distribution agreement with Yahoo! Search Marketing ends this month, and Yahoo! Sponsored Search listings will no longer appear in MSN's U.S. search results." MSN has been displaying mostly Microsoft adCenter ads on their search results pages for a couple months now. So the transition has been pretty gradual for advertisers and searchers.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:42 AM | Permalink

June 28, 2006

Yahoo Settles Clickfraud Lawsuit

A California judge has approved Yahoo's proposed settlement of a class action click fraud case brought against the company by Checkmate Strategic Group in June 2005.

Yahoo believes the settlement will cover all click fraud claims that have been filed against Yahoo, including a suit filed by Lane's Gifts and Collectibles in Arkansas last year against both Yahoo and Google.

The terms of the settlement include a cash payment of $4.95 million to plaintiffs' counsel and a provision that will allow advertisers to file a claim for Yahoo to investigate potentially fraudulent clicks back through January 2004. Yahoo will pay refunds to advertisers who file claims if it discovers evidence of fraudulent clicks.

"We're very pleased with the terms of the settlement," said Reggie Davis, associate general counsel for Yahoo. "We believe it's a reasonable and fair settlement."

What does it mean for Yahoo advertisers?

The cash payment is far less than the $90 million settlement Google agreed to last March to resolve the Lane's Gifts class action click fraud case. In that case, up to $60 million was allocated for credit to advertisers, while plaintiffs' council received $30 million.

The Yahoo settlement differs from the Google settlement in other ways, as well. Google is offering credit to advertisers, rather than cash refunds, with a cap of $60 million. Yahoo, by contrast, is offering cash refunds, and there is no ceiling on the amount it will refund if it finds evidence of click fraud, though the company is optimistic that the refund amounts won't be onerous due to the safeguards it has had in place.

Yahoo says it believes the favorable terms are due to the strong position it took maintaining that its proprietary system does a good job at protecting advertisers from click fraud. To bolster its position, Yahoo invited the plaintiffs' attorneys and their experts to meet with Yahoo's clickthrough protection team, examine its systems, ask questions and attend presentations to better understand the controls the company has in place to filter out questionable or fraudulent clicks.

Yahoo says that its clickthrough protection system has identified and not billed advertisers for billions of clicks during the past eight years, all the way back to the early days before Yahoo purchased Overture and its sponsored listing technologies. Clicks not billed for included obvious click fraud, but also other clicks that the company believed shouldn't be billed to advertisers (for example, blocked IP addresses, double-clicks, back browser clicks and so on).

Yahoo said that as part of the settlement it is taking five specific steps to combat click fraud:

1. The company is extending the claims period for advertisers suspecting fraudulent activity from sixty days to two and a half years, or back through January 2004. Yahoo will investigate all claims filed under this one-time extension and offer cash refunds to advertisers if it finds questionable activity.

Judge Taylor, a retired federal judge, will be overseeing the extended claims process. His role will be to ensure that Yahoo sticks to the agreed-upon process, and he will also be available to review advertiser appeals if they are not satisfied with the results of Yahoo's investigation.

2. The company plans to appoint a dedicated traffic quality advocate to act as ombudsman for advertisers. 3. Once a year Yahoo plans to host a panel of individual advertisers to tour the company's clickthrough protection headquarters, allowing them to ask questions and provide feedback. The company will also seek advice from this panel.

4. Yahoo plans to work with reputable third parties to develop an industry wide definition of click fraud, a list of recognized click bots, and take other measures to garner awareness of the issue and what's being done to combat the problem.

5. Yahoo plans to build a "traffic quality resource center" for advertisers, providing much more information about traffic quality, including extensive FAQs about the company's click-through protection methodology.

In addition, Yahoo said it is taking steps beyond the terms of the settlement to respond to advertiser needs.

"Advertisers are interested in understanding more about click through protection and click fraud," said John Slade, senior director, Yahoo! clickthrough protection. He said the company plans to provide advertisers with better visibility in turnaround time on complaints on click fraud, responding within a specified time frame.

He said Yahoo will also offer more clarity around refunds on click fraud, including additional detail describing more specifically what the company has found in refunds or credit notices—especially in better documenting the differences between click fraud and other traffic variances that might be misinterpreted as click fraud.

More information on the settlement in Yahoo's official press release, Yahoo! and Click Fraud: Our Commitment to Protecting Advertisers.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 8:24 PM | Permalink

June 19, 2006

New Search Patent Applications: June 19, 2006 - Autolinking, and Better Advertising through Deletion Predictions

Four patent applications from Google describe fighting spam in emails, providing product review searches, moving large amounts of data, and autolinking. Yahoo matches, and raises with five patent filings. One on watching deletions to choose better ads, another on serving dynamic information through a additional browser interface, and three more on multimedia and RSS.

Microsoft goes TV 2.0 with an electronic program guide, and describes a way of matching advertising content with certain search queries before those searches are made. IBM comes up with a unique way of presenting the results of a search from more than one search engine, and a way of reducing the amount of irrelevant results in a search by analyzing an initial set of results, identifying an appropriate additional query term from those results, and searching the original results again but with the additional query term included in the search.

Go Daddy describes a way of fighting spam in emails. Xerox employs collaborative filtering from previous users' searches to predict search results. Apostolos Gerasoulis, from Ask.com, with a couple of co-inventors, ranks and displays pages (objects) based upon linkage and textual data, and then defines a way to identifiy and assign topics to them.

Google

Email Spam

Emails with links in them could be considered spam if the links point to pages that are in a conceptual category considered spammy. This patent application really doesn't describe the concept categorization part of the process. That's done in a related patent application mentioned within this document, and the related document lists Georges Harik as one inventor. Dr. Harik's name is on a very large percentage of the patent applications involving Gmail-type processes.

Method and system to detect e-mail spam using concept categorization of linked content Invented by Johnny Chen US Patent Application 20060122957 Published June 8, 2006 Filed December 3, 2004

Abstract

A system and method for detecting undesired electronic messages (e.g., spam) using concept categorization of hyperlinks is disclosed. A server receives an electronic message and retrieves web pages that correspond to hyperlinks in the message. The server performs concept categorization on the retrieved web pages based on semantic relationships in the received information to determine whether the electronic message meets predefined criteria associated with undesired messages.

Searching and Aggregating Product Reviews

If Google wanted to get into the product or services review business, the next patent filing describes a blue print for the process that might make an effective and innovative system.

Method and system for finding and aggregating reviews for a product Invented by Jan Matthias Ruhl and Mayur D. Datar US Patent Application 20060129446 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 14, 2004

Abstract

Scaling and Distributing Data

Arvind Jain is the head of Research and Development in Google's Bangalore office, and has spoken at a number of conferences on infrastructure projects and issues involving such things as Google's crawl and indexing system, distributed file replication system, and compression techniques for large scale storage systems. He's listed as the inventor for this next Google filing.

System and method for scalable data distribution Invented by Arvind Jain US Patent Application 20060126201 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 10, 2004

Abstract

A system having a resource manager, a plurality of masters, and a plurality of slaves, interconnected by a communications network. To distribute data, a master determined that a destination slave of the plurality slaves requires data. The master then generates a list of slaves from which to transfer the data to the destination slave. The master transmits the list to the resource manager. The resource manager is configured to select a source slave from the list based on available system resources. Once a source is selected by the resource manager, the master receives an instruction from the resource manager to initiate a transfer of the data from the source slave to the destination slave. The master then transmits an instruction to commence the transfer.

Autolinking

Google's Autolink raised a lot of eyebrows, and brought some negative reactions. A Search Engine Watch Blog post from Danny Sullivan, Google Toolbar's AutoLink & The Need For Opt-Out defined many of the issues around the toolbar feature. The following patent application explains how such a system might work from the search engine's perspective.

Providing useful information associated with an item in a document Invented by Gueorgui Djabarov US Patent Application 20060129910 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 14, 2004

Abstract

A method includes recognizing an item within a first document based on a pattern associated with the item but not the exact content of the item. The method further includes identifying a link for the item and providing a second document that includes information associated with the item when the link for the item is selected.

Yahoo

Choosing Better Ads through User Behavior

Some queries involve the use of concepts and units, as described in at least five Yahoo patent filings (see previous patent posts in the Yahoo sections from Yahoo Units and Microsoft Redundancy Filters and More Yahoo Concepts and Google Predictive Searches.)

But sometimes a two term query isn't a concept as much as it is a couple of keywords that someone may use to search for something. If that person performs a second search after deleting one of the words, then the record of that deletion and second search might help Yahoo calculate "deletion probability scores" for words being used in these kind of two term queries.

This can be helpful when there isn't a good keyword based advertising match for that query, but there might be a good match individually for each of the terms that make up the query. The "deletion probability scores" can help determine which of the two terms to show keyword-based advertising for in search results.

System and methods for ranking the relative value of terms in a multi-term search query using deletion prediction Invented by Rosemary Jones and Daniel C. Fain US Patent Application 20060129534 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 14, 2004

Abstract

The likely relevance of each term of a search-engine query of two or more terms is determined by their deletion probability scores. If the deletion probability scores are significantly different, the deletion probability score can be used to return targeted ads related to the more relevant term or terms along with the search results. Deletion probability scores are determined by first gathering historical records of search queries of two or more terms in which a subsequent query was submitted by the same user after one or more of the terms had been deleted. The deletion probability score for a particular term of a search query is calculated as the ratio of the number of times that particular term was itself deleted prior to a subsequent search by the same user divided by the number of times there were subsequent search queries by the same user in which any term or terms including that given term was deleted by the same user prior to the subsequent search. Terms are not limited to individual alphabetic words.

Browser Interface Helpers

This next document describes some ways to provide additional dynamic information to someone via a toolbar styled interface, while they are browsing pages on the web.

Method of controlling an Internet browser interface and a controllable browser interface Invented by Thomas J. Shafron Assigned to Yahoo US Patent Application 20060129937 Published June 15, 2006 Filed February 2, 2006

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a method of dynamically controlling and displaying an Internet browser interface, and to a dynamically controllable Internet browser interface. In accordance with the present invention, a browser interface may be customized using a controlling software program that may be provided by an Internet content provider, an ISP, or that may reside on an Internet user's computer. The controlling software program enables the Internet user, the content provider, or the ISP to customize and control the information and/or functionality of a user's browser and browser interface.

RSS Enhancements

The following three Yahoo filings all list the same inventors, including John Thrall who is the head of media search engineering, for Yahoo Search. They provide different aspects of using RSS with multimedia files.

Syndicating multiple media objects with RSS Invented by Andrew R. Volk, David D. Hall, and John J. Thrall US Patent Application 20060129917 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 1, 2005

Abstract

System and method for syndicating more than one media object in an element using Real Simple Syndication (RSS). In one embodiment, multiple media objects with at least one shared characteristic are syndicated under the same element. For example, a single media object can come in multiple formats and/or compression rates.

Syndicating multimedia information with RSS Invented by Andrew R. Volk, David D. Hall, John J. Thrall US Patent Application 20060129907 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 1, 2005

Abstract

System and method for adding descriptive information to a Real Simple Syndication (RSS) document. The descriptive information describes the content of media objects syndicated through the document. The descriptive information can be used to provided additional information to a subscriber, and can be used in searching for syndicated media content.

RSS rendering via a media player Invented by Andrew R. Volk, David D. Hall, John J. Thrall US Patent Application 20060129916 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 1, 2005

Abstract

System and method for syndicating media objects through a link to a media player using Real Simple Syndication (RSS). A content provider may not want to give direct access to a media object to a subscriber. Instead a content provider can give the subscriber a link to a media player that can access the media object.

Microsoft

Searching electronic program guide data Invented by Pradhan S. Rao, David Hendler Sloo, Daniel Danker, and George K. Nyako Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060130098 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 15, 2004

Abstract

Searching electronic program guide (EPG) data is described. The EPG data may be compartmentalized into channel metadata that describes characteristics of one or more channels and content metadata that describes characteristics of one or more content items. In a implementation, a method includes searching channel metadata and content metadata. A result of the searching is formed for output in conjunction with an electronic program guide (EPG).

System and method for indexing and prefiltering Invented by Brian Burdick, Joshua J. Forman, Kevin P. Kornelson, Murali Vajjiravel, and Rajeev Prasad Assigned to Microsoft US Patent Application 20060129555 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 9, 2004

Abstract

A method and system are provided for selecting advertisements for presentation to a user in response to a user search query. The system may include a keyword server for parsing the user search query and an index server for receiving the parsed search query. The index server may include an index of advertising phrases and pre-filtering components for comparing index entries to the parsed user search query in order to discard non-matching index entries and locate matching entries. The pre-filtering components may include either a phrase length pre-filtering component or a word hash pre-filtering component. The system may additionally include a listing server for sorting through the matching entries located by the index server and further filtering the matching entries for retrieval and presentation to the user.

IBM

Ring method, apparatus, and computer program product for managing federated search results in a heterogeneous environment Invented by Wade Shelby Beavers and David Joseph Borrillo Assigned to IBM US Patent Application 20060129530 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 9, 2004

Abstract

A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for managing federated search results in a heterogeneous environment. A user enters a search term and the search term is submitted to multiple selected search engines. Search results are gathered from each selected search engine. A search ring is generated including a ring section to represent each of the selected search engines for enabling the user to view search results from one or more of the selected search engines.

Method and system for suggesting search engine keywords Invented by Cary Lee Bates Assigned to IBM US Patent Application 20060129531 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 9, 2004

Abstract

A search engine receives a search query having one or more keywords. The documents in the result set from that search query are analyzed to identify one or more additional keywords that further segment, or separate, the initial result set. These additional keywords are presented to the user who then selects whether to include or exclude documents matching the additional keywords. In this way, the number of documents in the initial result set is reduced in a relatively quick and effortless manner.

Go Daddy

Email filtering system and method Invented by Brad Owen and Jason Steiner US Patent Application 20060129644 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 14, 2004

Abstract

Systems and methods of the present invention allow filtering out spam and phishing email messages based on the links embedded into the email messages. In a preferred embodiment, an Email Filter extracts links from the email message and obtains desirability values for the links. The Email Filter may route the email message based on desirability values. Such routing includes delivering the email message to a Recipient, delivering the message to a Quarantine Mailbox, or deleting the message.

Xerox

Personalized web search method Invented by Lisa S. Purvis Assigned to Xerox Corporation US Patent Application 20060129533 Published June 15, 2006 Filed December 15, 2004

Abstract

A method for contextualizing search results is disclosed. The method includes performing a traditional web query that returns a set of result pages, using collaborative filtering techniques to generate a set of predicted pages, comparing the set of predicted pages with the set of result pages, and ranking the set of result pages so that result pages that are also included in the set of predicted pages are ranked higher than those that are not. Methods herein also contemplate using the search history of the user or others to refine the results of searches.

Ask.com

Relevancy-based database retrieval and display techniques Invented by Tao Yang, Wei Wang, and Apostolos Gerasoulis US Patent Application 20060129552 Published June 15, 2006 Filed February 2, 2006

Abstract

Techniques to retrieve, rank and display data objects retrieved form a database are described. In particular, methods to assign a global ranking value to a data object based on a combination of that object's link-based (e.g., vector-space cluster analysis) and text-based (e.g., word frequency) ranks are described. Additional techniques to determine a set of concepts, topics or key words associated with each retrieved data objects are described.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Technology & Relevancy area of the Search Engine Watch Forums.

Posted by Bill Slawski at 8:42 PM | Permalink

June 16, 2006

Yahoo To Reduce Search Ad Minimum Bid In UK To 5p?

I reported this morning at the Search Engine Roundtable that Yahoo may be reducing the minimum bid price from 10p to 5p. A WebmasterWorld member claimed to read the news in Interactive magazine that Yahoo will be reducing the minimum bid due to competition from Microsoft.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:44 AM | Permalink

May 17, 2006

Tim Cadogan Talking At Yahoo Analyst Day

Tim Cadogan, vice president of search, up now at Yahoo Analyst Day, talking about search monetization. He starts by saying the consumer is always first in consideration, then explains the search food chain/cycle, how questions can be answered by advertisers. Think there are billions of offers that can be delivered with more relevancy to make both sides, advertisers and searchers, happy.

Five priorities:

Core platform
Advertiser experience
Marketplace design
Consumer experience
Breadth and depth of advertiser experience

Priority 1

Get performance up to reduce transaction cost, which isn't just money but time and effort. Working to reduce this at a low cost. Scale, want millions of advertisers with billions of offers and 10s of billions of impressions per day. Rapid innovation, platform built to grow with new things (heard these types of things before with organic search architecture and not happened, but we'll see). Need to help ensure continued support for third parties in the search ecosystem.

Priority 2

Ease of use for advertisers, give them fast editorial turnaround. Search marketing hasn't always been easy, so spent a lot of time thinking on how to reveal the right level of sophistication when actually needed. Simple user gets simple interface; advanced gets more advanced charting and options. Effectiveness. Part of this is new ad testing to allow advertiser to express different creative for ads until get the right ad (you know, like AdWords has). Also better geotargeting.

Goal-based optimization. Everyone gets conversion tracking, so any advertiser (those who care and trust to share) can have bids optimized to reach things like cost per acquisition. Talks about "assists." How some terms get a lot of searches like digital camera and d70 will get more conversion, so advertiser might believe digital camera aren't good and so only do d70. That might be bad since digital camera might have drove or "assisted" the searcher earlier in the buying process or funnel, until they convert with a more specific term. Says this is a first to Yahoo's knowledge for the industry. I think so, if you exclude third party tools.

Shows the current system and how the new system will have a new budget system, with a bar chart showing you what opportunity you might be missing out on by not budgeting more. So helpful, but helpful to both sides.

Priority 3

New ranking system, with the first focus on improving the consumer experience. Shows a good, relevant ad for talavera tile. Doesn't show a bad example but says it happens and needs to improve.

Shows the ad quality chart. This is pretty cool -- I saw it in a briefing for the article I did two weeks ago. Shows you at a glance ads that aren't meeting the quality score. You don't know what exactly makes up that, but at least you can more easily see which ads are at risk. Clickthrough, he doesn't say, is a key component.

Priority 4

Enhanced geo-targeting, pick a city, have your ad targeted to there.

Priority 5

All small business now under one person, from domains to store functionality. On sales side, Yahoo Search Marketing and graphical sales now under one person.

Competitive stack up time. Relevancy-based ranking, ad testing, easier-to-use system, fast editorial review, integrated analytics are all key jumps up. Beyond this and above, visible quality scores, enhanced bidding and forecasting, a really easier-to-use system, good geo-targeting, the implementation of assists.

When? Platform tests through Q3 this year, then deploy in US, then Q1 next year internationally. Advertisers will also come into the new platform. The ranking system itself won't change until Q4 this year in the US, it's expected, then Q1 internationally, and designed to easy advertisers into new system.

Questions (joined by panelists):

Is there a risk bid prices might drop (me: sure, but if clicks increase...). We feel in aggregate, the net experience is going to be better. As for the analytic integration, Yahoo if I understood right does get some aggregate data to use for insight but mainly aimed at helping advertisers learn more.

Safa Rashtchy from Piper Jaffray: do you think you've got a new architecture that will let you move faster (they've said yes already but they say yes again). Also said (sorry, didn't catch name of the other panelist saying this) this is the third generation of this type of ad system, either third generation for Overture (if so, sure) or third generation in Overture-Google-Yahoo (if so, disagree. MSN is more a third generation platform, though I've written before that doesn't guarantee advertisers if there's no traffic).

Geotargeting: Tim sees lots of potential on those who don't advertiser who would once they have good local targeting. Susan Decker CFO stresses this is 1.0 of the new system and so they are considering some things down the line that their competitors might have (ie MSN and demographics).

Worried about hitting the holidays? Our advertisers say they want this sooner.

What type of increases in monetization expecting based on testing and any surprises from that. Susan: You don't really know until you have a real marketplace, and a dynamic marketplace. Don't expect a financial contribution this year from the system but more next year (ie, any big benefits won't really happen in 2006).

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 2:20 PM | Permalink

May 16, 2006

SEMs Accusing Yahoo Of Stealing Clients

I reported this morning that folks over at WebmasterWorld have reported having their clients stolen from them by Yahoo Search Marketing representatives. I would not doubt that Yahoo unintentionally pitched its service to these clients. If so, that does not make it OK to me. Yahoo -- and Google, which also has been accused of doing the same thing -- should have a policy of checking with the client that he is not already a customer of a preexisting SEM.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 3:00 PM | Permalink

May 8, 2006

Yahoo Unveils Public Details Of "Panama" Ad System Upgrade

Yahoo's finally gone public with details about its new "Panama" ad system upgrade, which when launched later this year will bring the system up to matching what Google's long offered, though both Yahoo and Google will remain behind Microsoft's third-generation ad platform "adCenter," launched last week. Details have leaked before, but now Yahoo's doing the talking directly.

The longer version of this article for Search Engine Watch members goes into more depth about where Yahoo has come from and how this system takes it to a new campaign-oriented system. It also looks at why Yahoo wants to hold off on third-generation features, for the moment, plus a little bit more explanation on some coming features.

You won't find the new system or features in place today. Instead, all that's happened today is that Yahoo is giving the many ad management companies and others who programmatically access the Yahoo system through APIs more information on how things will work, so they can start building support.

The system itself won't start changing until the third quarter of this year, sometime between July and September, Yahoo says. The switch will mean that you'll be able to build campaigns of multiple ads linked to multiple keywords. But the ranking system won't change. Those campaigns paying the most money per click will still come up tops first.

There's no timeline on when rankings themselves will shift to being more Google-like, where ads will show ranked based on a combination of clickthrough rate, the amount being bid and other factors. In fact, similar to Google, Yahoo's not saying what all the "quality" factors will be or how scores are ultimately determined. However, it does promise that the new system will make it easier to see the "ad quality" score for all your ads and campaigns.

What else is on tap? Better local targeting, for one. Pick a region of the US, and you'll be able to deliver ads to those either searching from that region or using common terms related to that region. Wildcard targeting, which exists now, will be made easier to use. New conversion tracking tools are to be offered, assuming you want to provide data to Yahoo.

Keep in mind that while I led off saying that Yahoo and Google are "behind" in features compared to Microsoft, that's not the case with the most important feature -- traffic. Ratings services such as comScore and NetRatings still show Google and Yahoo with much more audience than Microsoft. That's the primarily reason advertisers choose these services -- lots of good quality traffic.

Ultimately, as long as there is more demand than search inventory to go around (as is largely the case today), anyone with a major unique ad network is going to be successful. It only becomes a more zero sum game when there is more inventory than demand. That's when advertisers might become more selective and individual features may matter more.

Some additional coverage:

Yahoo Is Unleashing a New Way to Turn Ad Clicks Into Ka-Ching, New York Times
Yahoo Details Search Platform Revamp, ClickZ
Yahoo unveils overhaul of online advertising, Financial Times
Yahoo?s New Search Advertising System, Search Engine Journal
Yahoo to Disclose Details of System For Keyword Ads, Wall Street Journal

And the mailing to Yahoo's advertisers today:

The New Sponsored Search is Coming Better Ways to Connect with Customers Will Make Your Advertising More Effective

You've told us your needs and we've listened. A completely redesigned search marketing platform is on its way, full of advanced, easy-to-use features that will help you better connect with Yahoo!'s vast and valuable audience. As part of creating these enhancements, we met with advertisers of all sizes to hear first-hand the things they liked and didn't like about Sponsored Search. We extensively reviewed all parts of our service, including the design, features and tools. The result of these efforts is the new Sponsored Search, which will make its debut this Fall. Powerful New Features The new features that will make advertising with Yahoo! better and more effective include:

Easy-to-Use Control Panel A completely redesigned, easy-to-navigate control panel will help you see what's working and what's not--at the level of detail you choose--so you can take action and get even better results.
Fast Ad Activation Most new ads will go online within minutes, allowing you to connect with customers quickly, and easily make changes to your ads whenever you need to.
Ad Testing Easily test multiple versions of an ad to find the message that works best for your customers and provides the greatest return on your advertising investment. You can then choose to shift impressions to the ad that performs best.
Geo-Targeting Display your ads broadly or narrow your geographic distribution to better target your customers, customize your ads and control your costs.
Campaign Budgeting, Forecasting and Scheduling Create, budget and schedule individual advertising campaigns for greater control over your advertising strategy and spending. Review forecasts of your potential clicks based on your bids and budget and see how many clicks you're leaving to your competitors.
Visibility Understand how well your ads are performing relative to your competitors with the new Quality Index displayed for each ad. You'll also see the bid range necessary for premium placement at the top of the search results page.
Easy-to-Use Control Panel A completely redesigned, easy-to-navigate control panel will help you see what's working and what's not--at the level of detail you choose--so you can take action and get even better results.

Thoroughly Tested and Reviewed by Your Peers These new features have been rigorously tested by your fellow advertisers and refined over time to ensure that we delivered a service that successfully addresses the obstacles you currently face. Judging by the overwhelmingly positive feedback we've received, we are confident that the new Sponsored Search not only clears away those obstacles, but offers new and better ways to manage your account. Frequent and Detailed Communication with You Beginning next month, we'll begin to provide you with much more detailed information about all of the upcoming enhancements. To make your transition as smooth and easy as possible, we will provide:

A series of emails with tips on how best to prepare your account
In-depth articles on our new features in the advertiser newsletter
A new Yahoo! Search Marketing blog--a community forum for tips, news and your comments, as well as the inside scoop from our own staff, to help you be more successful
A dedicated toll-free phone number that will be available to you during your transition period, for any questions or concerns you may have

This is just the first step. After all advertisers have successfully transitioned to the new Sponsored Search, we plan to quickly introduce many more innovative products, features and tools that will give you even more ways to connect with customers. As always, thank you for doing business with us. We look forward to delivering the new Sponsored Search to you later this year.

And the Yahoo press release on the announcement:

Yahoo! to Launch New, More Powerful Search Advertising Platform

Company outlines plans to introduce easy-to-use customer interface, new forecasting features, enhanced testing and targeting capabilities, and quality-based ranking model

Burbank, Calif. May 8, 2006 ? Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today announced that it will begin rolling out a completely redesigned search advertising platform in the third quarter of this year to help businesses more easily connect to Yahoo!?s vast audience. In conjunction with the announcement, Yahoo! released the new search ad application program interfaces (APIs) designed to support the new platform. Replacing the original system that created the search advertising industry, Yahoo! new platform will enable marketers to more quickly launch search advertising campaigns across Yahoo! and its distribution network, and help achieve better overall return on their search advertising investment.

The new platform will be deployed on a country-by-country basis, with multiple phases within each market to help ensure a smooth transition for the hundreds of thousands of businesses that advertise with Yahoo! and to allow search engine marketers ample time to build upon Yahoo!?s new APIs. The first phase, building the core data platform and technologies, is near completion. The second phase will begin in the third quarter, when Yahoo! makes its new campaign management application and initial features accessible to advertisers. After the majority of advertisers have become familiar with the new features in a given market, Yahoo! will begin the third phase in that market, implementing a quality-based ranking model.

?We?ve designed our new platform to allow advertisers to reach Yahoo!?s audience through search as well as take advantage of advertising opportunities across all of our unique marketplaces, communications and social media assets,? said Steve Mitgang, Yahoo!?s senior vice president of advertising platforms and products. ?Yahoo!?s new technologies and features should encourage more participation in search advertising by making it easier for marketers to understand the performance of their campaigns and experiment more frequently with the medium.?

The new campaign management application was developed based on input from thousands of advertisers worldwide. The initial version will focus on overall ease-of-use in launching and managing campaigns, and providing greater visibility into campaign performance, coupled with more control over how to improve performance The new features and capabilities that will be available in the first version of the application include:

Intuitive Control Panel ? provides a simplified interface with user-tested navigation, allowing advertisers to easily understand their performance and providing them opportunities to modify or enhance campaigns every step of the way
Enhanced Geographic Targeting ? leverages Yahoo!?s WhereonEarth technology, which draws from 15 years of geo-targeting expertise to enable Yahoo! to more accurately understand and match to user search intent (?Soho, NY? versus ?Soho, London?) and colloquial terms (?restaurant near Fenway Park? is in central Boston, MA)
Fast Ad Activation ? provides a streamlined content review process that allows advertisers to launch most new ad campaigns in less than 30 minutes
Ad Testing ? supports automatic rotation of multiple versions of ads to determine the most effective, and, over time, displays the highest-performing ads more frequently
Visible Quality Index ? scores ads based on quality, bid and other relevance variables, and will be made visible to advertisers to enable them to gauge and optimize placement when the quality-based ranking model is implemented
Share of Clicks Forecasting ? displays data regarding the bid needed to achieve an estimated specific share of expected clicks, helping advertisers to set and reach traffic and conversion volume goals
Goal-Based Optimization ? enables advertisers to let Yahoo! automatically help find the least expensive way to meet their business goals-defined as Cost Per Acquisition or Return on Ad Spend
Assists ? shows advertisers the full value and contribution of every campaign by allowing them to see how ads drive both immediate and deferred conversions across multiple campaigns -- not just the last click that led to a conversion

?While the enhancements to our platform are dramatic and will provide immediate benefits to our advertisers, we ultimately rebuilt our system with the future in mind,? said Mitgang. ?Once the first version of the core platform is in place, we will be able to move quickly to build in capabilities that ultimately will provide search advertisers deeper access to Yahoo!?s more than 420 million users, broader advertising capabilities, proven targeting expertise and global distribution network.?

Future versions of the new platform will include additional distribution options and audience targeting based on factors that could include demographic information or online behavior, as well as additional ad formats enhanced with graphics or rich media.

For more information about Yahoo!?s current search marketing offerings, please visit: http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com.

Are you a Search Engine Watch member? Be sure to check out the longer version of this article!

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, Yahoo Announces New Search Advertising Platform Is Coming. See also Details On New Yahoo Paid Listings System for what's leaked before and New Look Coming For Yahoo Sponsored Search Listings and 10 Reasons Yahoo Should Kill Direct Traffic Center on issues some advertisers have with the existing system.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:35 AM | Permalink

May 5, 2006

Is Yahoo Testing New PPC Ad Ranking Algorithm?

I reported more evidence of Yahoo Search Marketing testing a new PPC ad ranking algorithm to include a click through rate element. I'll be honest, I am terribly confused if Yahoo is or is not testing a new PPC ad ranking algorithm, to include ad rank based on click-through rate and price per click. Currently Yahoo only uses price when determining an ad position, Google uses a "quality score" which includes price, click through rate and other criteria. Yahoo was rumored to be testing a new algorithm in Scandinavia, under the code name Project Panama. But Yahoo soon shot that down giving us a statement, which I felt was not too convicting, to be honest. And now we see signs of people reporting this phenomenon at our forums.

Want to discuss? Join our forum discussion named Yahoo! Testing CTR Based Rankings?

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 9:24 AM | Permalink

May 3, 2006

Class Action Fraud Suit Filed Against Yahoo Over Adware & Domain Distribution

Via Threadwatch, Suit Levels Spyware, Typosquatting Allegations at Yahoo at the Washington Post covers a class action lawsuit filed against Yahoo and others claiming "syndication fraud" over how Yahoo ads are allegedly displayed through spyware, adware and domain parking programs that involve "typo domains."

Ben Edelman, who has authored a number of reports on this subject such as this recent one, now jumps from researcher mode to being one of the attorneys in the case.

A copy of the filing is here (PDF format).

Postscript Barry: Eric Goldman has a much more comprehensive write up from a legal perspective on this case at his blog.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:13 AM | Permalink

Yahoo & Microsoft Have Talked Partnering, Merging

I was talking with Kevin Delaney of the Wall Street Journal on Monday about search things in general and mentioned the sense it makes for Microsoft and Yahoo to get together. Microsoft is behind with the core search technology. Yahoo's been struggling to upgrade its paid search service. Let's get these two kids together! And today in the Wall Street Journal, it turns out that there's apparently a faction at Microsoft that wants to do just that.

Via Paid Content, A Microsoft, Yahoo Tie-Up? from the Wall Street Journal has the details. Kevin and colleague Robert Guth write of there being two factions within Microsoft -- the "let's built it ourselves" group that has been in control so far and the "let's acquire" group apparently led by Microsoft senior vice president Hank Vigil.

Vigil is said to have led the failed negotiations to combine MSN with AOL. Frankly, a Yahoo deal makes more sense than that. AOL would have provided existing traffic but not solid search technology. Yahoo provides plenty of traffic, along with core search technology and a healthy, first-hand advertiser base.

What's not to love? Probably the high price of the acquisition, plus whether Yahoo -- especially cofounder Jerry Yang -- would go for it. But apparently it's plausible enough that both companies have talked informally over the past year.

The Wall Street Journal cites the hiring of Steve Berkowitz by Microsoft as perhaps being a tipping point. I'd certainly agree. Steve is the first serious outside person Microsoft has brought in for its battle in the search wars. Bringing him on was a big sign that what Microsoft has been trying to do internally hasn't been working -- and so something radical such as an Ask or Yahoo acquisition might be in order.

The big downside is that such an acquisition would give Microsoft yet another brand to confuse consumers with. After spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the years to push MSN, they've now shifted things behind making the stupid Windows Live brand their flagship. It's stupid for so many reasons. Let me bullet point two major ones:

Most people I know don't really like the Windows brand. Heck, I'm a Windows person, fairly anti-Mac, but Windows still represents crashes and glitches to me. And this is the label you want to attach to your online services?
We're moving into a world where the operating system and my web-based services aren't necessarily connected. I love Outlook. I live in Outlook. But online, I might want to sync Outlook with Yahoo or Google's calendar. Forcing me to think -- overtly or indirectly through branding -- that I have to use all your products makes me want to use none of them. Let MSN operate as if it wasn't linked to your operating system or your browser and it will be a stronger service in the long run, not weaker.

So Microsoft's already coping with the confusion of two major brands. Adding in Yahoo further confuses matters, unless they perhaps make a brave, bold move and put everything behind the brand leader in the space, Yahoo.

Meanwhile, via Valleywag, Ballmer defends Microsoft's spending increase from the Seattle Times covers a likely leaked memo from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer naming Google as one of the company's chief competitors and requiring further "heavy investments" in search. The goal, which we've heard before, is to create "the web's largest advertising network, giving us an engine that twill enable us to monetize our services and compete against Google."

Ah -- but to compete against Google, you don't need an advertising network. You first need a quality core web search engine, which your heavy investment to date has failed to create. And so back to Yahoo, which has exactly what Microsoft needs, that core technology.

Microsoft's AdCenter May Fail to Topple Google From Dominance from Bloomberg covers how advertisers are getting a more formal look at the MSN adCenter service that Microsoft has rolled out over the past few months. Unlike Microsoft's failure in web search, I'd say adCenter is a big success. The service already has plenty of advertisers using it -- and anecdotally continues to draw lots of praise for its features.

Features ultimately mean little, of course. As the story cites, it's about volume. MSN could have rolled out a terrible product that advertisers would have coped with simply because it was the only way to reach MSN's substantial traffic. But to the company's credit, they did not do that. Instead, they've continued to refine and tweak and take advertiser feedback in a way that has earned them raves I rarely hear recently about the systems at Google or Yahoo. Volume remains key, but the features and wooing still certainly help.

And that brings us back to Yahoo, which has been struggling with an antiquated paid listings toolset. The Counterattack On Google from BusinessWeek covers how Yahoo's "Panama" update to its paid listings system has been progressing over the past two years and is nearing completion. But BusinessWeek correctly summarizes, in my view, the changes are more about bringing Yahoo up to Google's level of features rather than leapfrogging past Google and into features like MSN offers.

It's another argument that makes the idea of Yahoo and Microsoft getting together not wacky at all.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, Yahoo & Microsoft To Combine.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:00 AM | Permalink

April 28, 2006

Yahoo Local Adds Featured Listings

The Yahoo Search blog just announced a new Yahoo Local advertising solution named Local Featured Listings. This advertising solution enables advertisers to place their ads at the top of a local listing for different business categories. The business categories seem to be based on your location and keyword. The rate chart shows you can spend $15 to $300 depending on your location and keyword phrase, Manhattan and florist being the most expensive category, since Manhattan is very populated and florist is a popular keyword phrase. A lot more information at http://listings.local.yahoo.com/prlfl.php, I may have more later on this.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 11:18 AM | Permalink

April 18, 2006

Search Ad Providers Gaze into their Crystal Balls

Is search advertising slowing down, or just getting started? What new distribution channels are likely to open up in the coming months? Will traditional ad agencies dominate the business? And just how big a problem is click fraud, anyway? Answers to these and many other questions from executives from Google, Yahoo, AOL, MSN and IAC in today's SearchDay article, Divining the Future of Search Advertising.

Posted by Chris Sherman at 12:24 PM | Permalink

April 10, 2006

Yahoo Denies Scandinavia Testing

In a follow-up to last week's post, Yahoo has said they aren't testing a new system in Scandinavia. Without giving details about the new system, they say it's still expected to be unveiled in the second half of this year. Here is the statement they sent:

As we've said in the past, Yahoo is working on a new search advertising interface that will provide businesses with a more powerful, easier to use advertising experience. We plan to introduce the new interface during the second half of this year.

For background on the rollout rumor, see our earlier post here. For background on the system, see our forum thread from last August here.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 1:45 PM | Permalink

April 7, 2006

Yahoo to Reduces U.K. Agency Search Ad Commissions

Netimperative reports that Yahoo Search Marketing is reducing the commissions they give U.K. third-party search ad agencies from 15% to as low as 5%. Starting July 1st, Yahoo will offer a 5% discount "on total monthly gross spend to agencies spending from £20,000 to £79,999 per month on advertising on Yahoo! search." Advertisers who spend more than £80,000 will earn a 10% commission.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:47 AM | Permalink

Yahoo "Project Panama" Testing New Ad Ranking System

Last August, we covered how Yahoo planned to launch a new paid listings model more like Google AdWords, where clickthrough and other factors might impact ad rankings. Now via Marketing Pilgrim, there's a Forbes report that Yahoo has been testing the new system out in the wild -- well, Scandinavia.

Currently, Yahoo places a paid ad solely based on the amount you are willing to pay for the keyword. Google uses both price of the keyword and a "quality score" to rank the ad.

Yahoo has named this test project "Project Panama," where ads placement are now based on price and relevancy of ad. Yahoo is expected to test this in the UK in July.

Postscript: Posted a new update under the title Yahoo Denies Scandinavia Testing.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 8:34 AM | Permalink

April 4, 2006

Adware Said To Generate Fake Clicks On Yahoo Search Marketing Ads

Ben Edelman lets us know about his latest study, The Spyware - Click-Fraud Connection -- and Yahoo's Role Revisited, which looks at how adware is said to be generating fraudulent clicks on Yahoo Search Marketing ads. Adware vendors are said to be placing Yahoo ads into their programs, which then generate clicks without the computer user being involved. Ben has documented several examples of this, including full packet logs, annotated screenshots, and videos.

Posted by Barry Schwartz at 10:28 AM | Permalink

February 23, 2006

Yahoo To Ban Bidding On Competitor Trademarks To Stop Comparison Advertising

Yahoo No Longer Allow Bidding On Trademarked Terms on our SEW Forums has news that Yahoo will no longer be allowing companies to purchase ads linked to the trademarks of their competitors. From what's being sent to advertisers:

On March 1, 2006, Yahoo! Search Marketing will modify its editorial guidelines regarding the use of keywords containing trademarks. Previously, we allowed competitive advertising by allowing advertisers to bid on third-party trademarks if those advertisers offered detailed comparative information about the trademark owner's products or services in comparison to the competitive products and services that were offered or promoted on the advertiser's site.

In order to more easily deliver quality user experiences when users search on terms that are trademarks, Yahoo! Search Marketing has determined that we will no longer allow bidding on keywords containing competitor trademarks.

OK, I haven't had a chance to talk with Yahoo yet, but here are few key points from what I see so far:

The policy doesn't seem to completely ban bidding on terms that are also trademarks, which is good. I won't spin out all the long explanations about why that is good, as I've done in the past. The short answer is that some products and services simply cannot be adequately advertised if you can't bid on a term that also is a trademark. Try selling "used ipods" if you can't buy the term "ipod," for example. Or look at the trouble this person is having about helping to advertise Ferrari driving experiences without being able to buy ads linked to that term on Google in Europe.
In the US (where the Yahoo policy is coming into effect), the courts have so far upheld the right to link ads to terms that might also be trademarks. That's why Google allows you to buy ads linked to these terms in the US. You simply cannot use the terms in your ads. In Europe, you can't use the terms as trigger words or in copy. Google's full policy is here.
Betcha I know what's prompted the move. Yahoo has been doing more and more work to attract big brand advertisers to link non-search campaigns back to search. The problem is, that means other competing brands can capitalize on this traffic. Mazda Taps Into Pontiac TV & Search Ads Again covers more about this. An easy way to stop your big brand advertisers you've partnered with from being walked over this way is to ban "comparison" ads linked to their campaigns.

Need more history on search ads and trademark disputes? The Legal: Trademarks section of the Search Topics area available to Search Engine Watch members has lots and lots of information.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our SEW Forum thread, Yahoo No Longer Allow Bidding On Trademarked Terms.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:06 PM | Permalink

January 23, 2006

How to Handle Yahoo's Shorter Ad Descriptions

Last week, shorter ads descriptions came to Yahoo as Danny points out in this post. To assist with the change, Kevin Lee's column on the Clickz site: Strategies for Yahoo's Shorter Descriptions, offers some suggestions and tactics for SEM's on how to handle the new ad lengths.

Here are a few key points, in my view, from Kevin's column:

+ Don't simply clone your Google ads to Yahoo. Why? Any changes result in the ads going back through Yahoo!'s dreaded editorial process. So first, evaluate if the truncated ads continue to communicate your advertising message appropriately. Many advertisers write their descriptions in an inverted pyramid format, so truncation may not be a big deal because the meat of the message is in the first few words.

+ Yahoo and Google campaign structures are "likely very different." Though you may rely on Google campaigns running on broad or phrase match, Yahoo! creative and keyword lists may need to go much deeper. In addition, unless you really want the highest possible volume of clicks from a listing, your ad creative may be better served with a clear message about the product or service you provide. In Google, less-than-compelling ad creative is penalized with a lower quality score. That results in a lower position or more expensive campaign.

Finally: Another reason to keep Yahoo! titles at the maximum length is that often, additional length allows you to more effectively communicate your value to potential customers. On the other hand, you may have already created compact ad titles that communicate with the same level of clarity as longer ones do. Google and MSN forced many of us to become experts at compact communication.

Much more in Kevin's excellent column.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:52 PM | Permalink

January 17, 2006

Shorter Ads Coming To Yahoo This Week

SEMs Welcome Shorter Yahoo! Ads covers the move this week by Yahoo to shorten ads to from 190 to 70 characters and many marketers apparently glad about the change. Some places will still carry the longer ads, and not all marketers are necessarily pleased, however. Want to discuss, comment or read what others are saying? Visit our SEW Forums thread, New Look Coming For Yahoo Sponsored Search Listings

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:11 AM | Permalink

January 5, 2006

Search Engines Making Millions Off Type-In Traffic From Domains

Masters of their Domains is a great article from Business 2.0 that WebmasterRadio's Monte Cahn of the Domain Masters show turned me onto before the New Year. It goes into great depth about the sheer amount of money that "type in" traffic is generating for those who own hot domain names. That money is coming from players like Yahoo and Google -- who you might recall got some fire from me for not allowing advertiser to opt-out of domain-generated traffic.

For the record, I do have follow up calls being set up with Yahoo and Google to talk more about that situation, so I'll come back to it in more depth with their views. Google AdSense For Domains Program Overdue For Reform -- And Yahoo & Microsoft Should Also Take Note is my past article on the topic.

Monte sent me the article, but I only finally got to reading it today in the post-holiday digout after Barry pointed out a WebmasterWorld debate spurred by it. Some folks are upset over the sheer amount of money "domainers" are making, especially when it seems some may not be following the various ad program rules and advertisers themselves can't opt out.

AdSense For Domains Garbage Traffic is our own, earlier Search Engine Watch Forums thread where people are getting just as heated. It also covers that while officially you can't automatically opt-out of domain-driven traffic if you buy search-targeted traffic, some have managed to gain exceptions.

One of the most gripping aspects of the Business 2.0 story comes at the end:

In the meantime, Google and Yahoo are trying to keep the type-in business coming--and execs from both companies are using the Delray Beach conference to court the folks who control it. As the party at Delux winds down, 14 Yahoo executives pile into a stretch Hummer with a few of the domainers, including Schilling, who has an exclusive contract in which Yahoo serves all the ads for his sites. The limo heads 35 miles south on Interstate 95 to Scarlett's Gentlemen's Club. The men kick back in the VIP section, outfitted with plush booths and red velvet curtains.

When the woman in charge of the area comes by and mentions the cost of the booths, the Yahoo crew gets nervous. And in the end, no one wants to submit the $1,000 tab to the expense department back at headquarters. Finally, Schilling pulls out a roll of cash and pays up. Not a big deal for a guy who owns a share of a jet. But considering that Schilling's traffic generated more than 1 percent of Yahoo's $3.6 billion in revenues last year, you'd think one of those guys could have stood up and taken one for the team.

That all happened at the Traffic domain conference last year, an invite only event. Next one happens at the end of this month in Silicon Valley.

Elsewhere in the story, one Yahoo exec is cited as saying type in traffic may make up 15 percent of search revenue. It's no wonder both Google and Yahoo haven't made it easier for people to opt-out, given the amount of money at stake.

Nevertheless, it's something they should do. It's not that domain traffic is necessarily bad nor that domainers are necessarily doing anything wrong. But there's a difference between the person who did a keyword search as opposed to someone who did a navigational guess (a type in) versus someone who sees ads placed contextually on pages. Advertisers deserve the transparency of doing these as separate buys.

After three years, Google finally got it through their heads that contextual needed to be a different marketplace than search targeted traffic. Actually, I feel like they dragged this out so long precisely because they didn't want to risk losing money that contextual pulls in. Excuses like not wanting to allow site targeting or separate buys made three years ago so as not to "confuse" advertisers always sounded lame.

At least Yahoo understood that contextual needed to be separate from the start, or sort of. That's sort of because what's classed as "search" by Yahoo might not be considered "search" to an advertiser.

In both cases, neither player is putting domain traffic into its own box, and that needs to be done -- so advertisers themselves have a better choice.

I'll leave with something I put in our own forum discussion. A big change that would help is if Google dumped the idea that "AdWords" is a program for buying ads while "AdSense" is a program for carrying ads. It's incredibly confusing.

Consider this. Through AdWords, you want to buy ads that show up in search results. Many think that's what AdWords is. It's not. AdWords just lets you buy AdSense For Search, which also includes AdSense For Domains. Then there's AdSense For Content that you might also purchase through AdWords. All clear? And if you carry AdSense, chances are you really mean you only carry AdSense For Content.

Honestly, let's shift to this:

AdWords = Ads that show up when someone does a keywords search, currently called AdSense For Search
AdSense = Ads placed contextually, currently called AdSense For Content
DomainSense or DomainPark = Ads placed on parked domains, currently called AdSense For Domains

Do that, and things are much, much clearer. Want to buy search targeted ads? Buy AdWords. Want to carry those ads? Sign-up to carry AdWords. The same word will mean the same thing to two major parties that are involved. And want to opt out of a particular program? Easily done, or it should be.

Want to comment or discuss? Visit our Search Engine Watch Forums thread, AdSense For Domains Garbage Traffic.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:00 AM | Permalink

December 15, 2005

New Year Will Bring New Look to Yahoo Search Results Pages; Shorter Descriptions for Sponsored Listings

Several people (thank you) have shared with us a copy of an email that was sent to Yahoo Search Marketing customers this afternoon. It announces that Yahoo Search web results pages will have a new, what thay call "streamlined design," beginning January 18, 2006. I've posted the full text of the letter, here.

The letter explains what this new look will mean for YSM customers/advertisers.

Highlights from the Letter: + Yahoo will display shorter descriptions for Sponsored Search listing + Users need to do nothing, ads will automatically shortened + If you'd like to optimize your listings for Yahoo, begin your description with one short sentence that includes your keyword and focuses on your most important information in the first 70 characters + We will fine tune the exact character count that we believe works best for advertisers and search users + Most of our partners, including MSN, CNN, ESPN and Infospace, will still display longer descriptions for your Sponsored Search listings, though the exact length may vary from partner to partner

According to the letter, research has shown that making results pages easier for users to read will generally provide an increase in clicks, while maintaining conversion rates.

I'm sure after the holidays, if not sooner, we will not only learn more but also literally "see" what the new results pages will look like.

Earlier today, I posted about some changes to the Yahoo "uncluttered", search.yahoo.com interface.

Want to Discuss? It's already underway in this SEW Forums thread.

Postscript: An Yahoo Rep has answered a few questions in our forum.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:36 PM | Permalink

December 2, 2005

Yahoo Impulse & Search Behavioral Ads

Yahoo using online behavior to target ads from Reuters covers briefly the "new, new thing" according to Yahoo executive vice president Greg Coleman where Yahoo banner ads are targeted based on search behavior and other activities.

I guess it depends on how you define new. As even Coleman says, Yahoo's had variations on this for some time, literally years. But the latest rev of Yahoo Impulse that he's talking about has been running since at least June of this year.

See Yahoo Testing Behavior Targeting Of Ads and Yahoo Using Search Profile To Trigger Banner Ads Over Time for more on that, as well as Yahoo CEO: 2005 Is For Making More Search Revenue & Better Ad Targeting Through Personal Info.

FYI, our Targeting Search Ads By Demographics & Behavior session at Search Engine Strategies next week will cover the Yahoo program. Yahoo couldn't get someone for that particular panel, but search marketer Dana Todd knows it well and will give a "from the trenches" presentation.

MSN and AlmondNet will also be discussing the demographic and behavioral targeting systems they have, with search marketers Danielle Leitch and Kevin Lee providing their perspectives on such programs.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:11 AM | Permalink

November 17, 2005

Yahoo Search Marketing Searches for a Content Specialist

I spend some time each week reviewing job openings at Yahoo, Google, and other search companies. Sometimes, these listings can provide clues to "new projects" the company might be working on. However, most of the time, it's just a company in search of an employee. I believe that's the case with this "just posted" position for a Content Specialist at Yahoo Search Marketing in Pasadena. The job might be of interest to some of you.

From the listing: The Content Specialist analyzes Web sites, researches and identifies relevant search terms, and uses Overture's cutting edge technology to create effective search marketing campaigns for new and existing clients. Works closely with multiple Sales Teams to strategize methods for enhancing CTR and ROI as well as resolve client inquiries and disputes. Works with Customer Services to resolve client issues as necessary. Occasionally, the Content Specialist will interact directly with key advertisers helping to explain where opportunities sit within their online marketing portfolio and how Overture can assist them in driving valuable traffic to their websites.

You'll find the complete job listing here.

Posted by Gary Price at 1:46 PM | Permalink

November 7, 2005

Yahoo Testing Pay Per Call In US

Yahoo Testing Pay Per Call has member Webvisitor reporting that Ingenio is telling him that Yahoo is testing the company's pay-per-call solution. Ingenio already provides AOL pay-per-call listings, as covered more in A Closer Look at Pay-per-Call Search Marketing from SearchDay earlier this year. Yahoo launched pay-per-call in the UK in August.

Postscript: Greg Sterling, Johnathan Thaw over at Bloomberg tell me (no story I can link to, sorry) and this news item all have Yahoo confirming the test on its side of things.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:33 PM | Permalink

Yahoo Lowers Ad Deposit To $5

First Yahoo eliminated its $20 per month minimum spend requirement for search ads last month. Now today, the Yahoo Search Blog has announced that the minimum deposit to get started has dropped from $30 to $5 (on the US side, at least -- in the UK, it's still about $100 required). That's the same as Google has long requested, and Google has never had a minimum ad spend. So I guess Yahoo's now completed the transition of making getting started with search ads the same as Google. Of course, ads at Yahoo remain ranked by who pays the most, while Google factors clickthrough rate as a key component. But that's expected to change next year, as we've reported before. Want to discuss? Of course you want to discuss! Come by our thread at the Search Engine Watch Forums, Yahoo! Search Marketing Lowers Deposit.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 4:01 PM | Permalink

October 21, 2005

Yahoo Drops $20 Monthly Minimum Spend Requirement

Over in our SEW Forums, Yahoo announced in the Yahoo Eliminating $20 Minimum PPC Spend thread that the $20 monthly minimum spend requirement it introduced back in 2001 (to some controversy, I recall), has been dropped. Google has never had such a similar requirement, so it's a good move. Letters are going out to advertisers now. Didn't get yours yet? Barry over at Search Engine Roundtable has posted a copy of what he received.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:33 AM | Permalink

Ted Meisel Leaving Yahoo

Ted Meisel is one of the smartest, far-thinking people I know in the search ads space. He should be, as the last president of Overture, before it was purchased by Yahoo and turned into Yahoo Search Marketing. Now Meisel, senior VP at Yahoo who has continued running Yahoo Search Marketing, is leaving.

Changes at the Top at Yahoo! Search and Ad Sales Units at ClickZ has more about the move, announced as part of Yahoo's earning call earlier this week. Meisel leaves at the end of the year. ClickZ reports Yahoo saying he's leaving to "recharge, spend time with his family, and pursue public policy interests."

Let's hope Yahoo's got some good lock-in on what Ted might want to do after he's feeling a bit more recharged, lest he decide to perhaps take up a new challenge with MSN or Google. In the outright war over search talent that's been going on, he's a heavy hitter now departing the playing field.

Gregory Coleman will pick up oversight of Yahoo Search Marketing's ad sales side as executive vice president of global ad sales. Jeff Weiner, Yahoo senior vice president of search and marketplace, will oversee product development aspects of paid search. More also from the New York Times here and AdWeek here.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:26 AM | Permalink

September 1, 2005

Yahoo Rapped Over Funding Spyware -- Isn't It Overdue For Source Selection To Be Allowed?

How Yahoo Funds Spyware out now by spyware researcher/activist Ben Edelman looks at how Yahoo ads run in plenty of places beyond Yahoo, including syndication partners he says make use of spyware or adware. It raises again the question of why the major search engines are dragging their feet on letting people pick-and-choose where their ads will run?

Edelman's written similarly of Google before and provides links to those reports in this latest one. However, he feels he encounters Yahoo ads more in spyware-infected PCs than those from other ad networks. He looks closely at Yahoo ads being distributed through Claria, eXact Advertising and Direct Revenue. He also takes aim that Yahoo should be doing better disclosure of such deals to its advertisers.

Ultimately, if Yahoo can't do better policing, he says advertisers should be able to pick-and-choose where they appear. I agree. So do most advertisers I talk with. I just surveyed a room of them at our SES San Jose show last month, and virtually everyone agreed they should be able to choose exactly where they appear.

As a reminder, among the majors, only Google currently offers site exclusion -- but only for its contextual ads. See our past post, New Google AdWords Site Targeting Allows Advertisers To Pick & Choose, for more info. You still can't exclude more than 25 sites. However, site targeting is an opposite feature where you can pick-and-choose exactly the sites you want, rather than just excluding some.

I'm honestly amazed -- actually appalled -- that the majors haven't done more to give advertisers choice here. Let's just recap a few reasons why:

It would help eliminate click fraud - BlowSearch Offers Source Exclusion; When Will The Majors Do The Same? on the blog from March explains how BlowSearch decided to allow source/site exclusion -- and Mirago did the same way back in 2003. Is there a site you think is generating fraudulent clicks? Site exclusion would allow you to get off that site. Moreover, if enough advertisers opt-out of a site, you're building a database of sites you might want to blacklist.
It would prevent embarrassment - That's what happened to Kraft, when it found its contextual ads running in Google showing up on a pro-white web site. As mentioned, Google's site exclusion solves this -- but only for the contextual side of the house. Search targeted ads still lack exclusion.
It might prevent legal liabilities: As Edelman's report points out, there might be some legal issues with advertisers who inadvertently support spyware. Legal issues also came up over Ask Jeeves putting ads on a BitTorrent search engine

The most important reason is that it's the right thing to do. I've talked for years about how search advertising is so rudimentary, as if you wanted to buy a TV ad to run in association with ER on NBC but are instead told you have to have your ad run with every program, throughout the day.

Let people pick and choose. It's not only right -- it's overdue to be offered as this industry matures.

Want to discuss? Please visit our Search Engine Watch Forums!

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:00 AM | Permalink

August 31, 2005

Yahoo Apologizes For Ad Management Problems; Issues Case-By-Case Refunds

I wrote last week about how a weekend upgrade to Yahoo's ad management system went awry, making things sluggish or keeping some advertisers locked out of their accounts for several days. The company did another upgrade last night and so far, I've spotted no complaints. The company also sent out apologies to advertisers impacted by the problems.

News Analysis: Yahoo! Search Mostly Fixed; Reputation Needs Repair from MediaPost looks at how Yahoo Search Marketing president Ted Meisel sent an email to advertisers last Sunday apologizing and pledging that any further interruptions will be minor as further tweaks are done.

Want to see the entire letter? Sebastian over at our SEW Forums has posted it, along with a paragraph-by-paragraph annotation. I'd link over to an unannotated version, but I haven't seen one posted anywhere. Yahoo did post a similar apology over in our forums, along with an email contact address.

The MediaPost article also says that Yahoo will consider compensating advertisers on a case-by-case basis if they feel the outage caused them to incur charges.

One reader I heard from told me he'd turned off his account last Friday -- verified by him in that no ads were visible -- yet charges continued to the tune of over $500, by his calculations. He was told that he'd be credited for overcharges in the next few days. He also said in his email:

What scares me now is not just the fact that I was charged over and above my daily budget amount but the fact that I was being charged for clicks on ads that we're not even being displayed. With this being a systemwide occurrence, there must be thousands of advertisers that were affected that aren't even aware that they were overcharged.

MarketingVox reports similar complaints from advertisers about overcharges, as well as no proactive calls to advertisers about the problems.

Want to comment or discuss? August 2005: Yahoo Search Marketing Down in our SEW Forums covers the outage that happened this month. 10 Reasons Yahoo Should Kill Direct Traffic Center is another thread covering ongoing problems with the ad management system. Details On New Yahoo Direct Traffic Center is a thread that covers an entirely new system that Yahoo has in the works.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 12:07 PM | Permalink

August 25, 2005

Yahoo's Ad Management System Down Or Sluggish For Some, After Upgrade

More woes for Yahoo Search Marketing's account system. Yahoo! Search On The Fritz After System Upgrade from MediaPost looks briefly at how some firms found even after the Yahoo ad management system came back online after a weekend upgrade, they were unable to change listings to adjust bids, add new listings or remove existing ones.

August 2005: Yahoo Search Marketing Down in our Search Engine Watch Forums has others reporting problems, including member Discovery who effectively felt held hostage. 10 Reasons Yahoo Should Kill Direct Traffic Center is an earlier thread detailing a litany of complaints some advertisers have with past outages and problems. Details On New Yahoo Paid Listings System is a thread we mentioned earlier that talks about a new system to come sometime next year.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:23 AM | Permalink

August 18, 2005

Yahoo Readying New Paid Listings System

Yahoo plans a new paid listings system for next year that will allow advertisers to have multiple creatives, rankings based on a more Google-like CPC and clickthrough formula, features to crawl a site to harvest potential keywords and other changes. Shor over at our SEW Forums provides more information in the Details On New Yahoo Paid Listings System thread.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:46 AM | Permalink

August 15, 2005

Yahoo Expands Ambassador Program and Adds Services for Certified Affiliates

The Media Post story: Yahoo Beefs Up Training For Search Marketers, has details about the folks in Sunnyvale expanding access to its Ambassador Program. Yahoo is also increase the amount of training and resources it provides to members of the Ambassador and Certified Affiliate programs.

The three-tiered Ambassadors Program provides partners with education, training, and search marketing resources to help them sell and manage paid search campaigns...Yahoo is also adding to its existing affiliate program with a new Certified Affiliate program, which offers Web-based training and marketing materials to help affiliates educate their clients before referring them to begin a paid search campaign with Yahoo.

Posted by Gary Price at 3:46 PM | Permalink

August 10, 2005

Yahoo Launches Pay-Per-Call in the UK and Ireland

Yahoo launches pay-per-call service Source: Netimperative

The service is already available in Yahoo Cars and will be introduced into Yahoos other e-commerce properties, Shopping and Travel following an initial introductory period beginning in early August on its shopping comparison portal Kelkoo.

A few more details in the news release.

Posted by Gary Price at 11:48 AM | Permalink

July 27, 2005

Complaints Over Yahoo's Direct Traffic Center

One of our SEW Forums moderators sebastian has had it with Yahoo's Direct Traffic Center, the administrative control center for those running paid search campaigns. He created a 10 Reasons Yahoo Should Kill Direct Traffic Center thread listing his concerns and problems and found others sharing their problems. Want to see improvements? Jump in and sound off. Think things are fine? Then say so as well.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:31 AM | Permalink

July 15, 2005

Yahoo Using Search Profile To Trigger Banner Ads Over Time

The PC World article, Yahoo Tailors Graphical Ads to Users' Search Queries, discusses changes to Yahoo's "Impulse" advertising program.

Yahoo captures a user's query terms and categorizes them. For example, a user who searches for the term "credit card" will be tagged as someone who is interested in the broader "financial services" category, said Usama Fayyad, senior vice president and chief data officer at Yahoo. Then that user will be served graphical ads, such as banner ads, from participating advertisers in that financial services category while he is in the network of Yahoo sites, Fayyad said.

Privacy Concerns?

Yahoo's privacy policy states that the company "automatically receives and records information on our server logs from your browser, including your IP address, Yahoo cookie information, and the page you request. Yahoo uses information for the following general purposes: to customize the advertising and content you see, fulfill your requests for products and services, improve our services, contact you, conduct research, and provide anonymous reporting for internal and external clients."

Posted by Gary Price at 9:20 AM | Permalink

June 14, 2005

WashingtonPost.com Says Goodbye to Google and Hello to Yahoo

In case you haven't noticed, web search and keyword ads on the popular online news site, WashingtonPost.com (also my hometown paper) are now powered by Yahoo.

This recent Forbes.com story points out that Yahoo "may have won" the Washington Post business, based on information from Standard & Poor's Equity Research. S&P tells us it spotted a switchover at the Washington Post site on Sunday, causing it to issue the guidance.

Posted by Gary Price at 12:19 PM | Permalink

June 13, 2005

Yahoo & Google Paid Programs Compared

Yahoo SM vs. Google AdWords from Search Engine Guide is a short summary covering some differences between buying paid listings with Google versus Yahoo. If you've been doing this for a while, there's no major surprises. But it has some nice highlights. Be wary of the claim about Google conversions being better, however. This seems based on one single ad campaign. Your own mileage may vary and dramatically so.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:38 AM | Permalink

June 10, 2005

Ads Coming to Mobile Search

It looks as if keyword advertising is coming very soon to the mobile search arena.

A short article on the Netimperative site points out that Yahoo Search Marketing Services (formerly Overture) has signed a deal with Mobile Commerce to provide keyword ads, something we haven't seen much of on mobile services up to this point, on a new "mobile" travel search site that will launch later this year in the UK.

The three companies currently bidding the highest amount for those keywords will have their advertisement shown to the user...Sean Walker, general manager of vertical markets at Overture said: "This service is going to replicate the internet performance-based search advertising model, where companies bid and pay for advertising space in real time. "For us, this is a natural transition from the advertising we serve on the internet. Many of our existing advertisers are interested in this new method of distribution."

Posted by Gary Price at 11:37 AM | Permalink

April 18, 2005

Overture Becomes Yahoo Search Marketing & Comparing Listing Products At Yahoo To Google

The rebranding promised in March has happened. Overture has officially become Yahoo Search Marketing, marked by the launch of a new Yahoo Search Marketing site that lists all of Yahoo's search-related listing products.

It's a good change that ought to help new advertisers. Rather than having to explain that they need to buy "Overture" to be on Yahoo, Yahoo can now direct them to a site that retains its branding.

But with rebranding can come confusion, so I thought it would be helpful to look at all the products listed at the new site and also compare them to Google products. In particular, an email I got from a reader prompted the idea:

I am trying to find the "comparable" Yahoo program to Google AdWords. Since their rebranding of Overture last week, I'm still looking unsuccessfully for something like Precision Match, but it looks as if the program has been axed?

We've been using Google AdWords since it launched and are very happy with the format and back office (most of all the results). Is Yahoo offering a similar program? Honestly, I've read about their "Sponsored Search" and it's simply not obvious.

Meanwhile at our Search Engine Watch forums, a thread on the rebranding shows similar confusion:

I thought Overture was being renamed to Yahoo Search Marketing, but this page boasts a range of products, including Shopping, Travel, Directory, PPI & Overture (sponsored search).

The chart below gives you a side-by-side look at all the products listed on the new Yahoo site, along with some other listings areas that I thought made sense to add. If you're a Search Engine Watch member, see this extended post that provides commentary and additional advice and information about each listing area.

Listing Type Yahoo Google Web Search Listings Yahoo Submit Your Site Add Your URL To Google Web Search Paid Inclusion Search Submit Express & Search Submit Pro n/a (but advertisers can get listing support) Search Ads (Paid Placement) Sponsored Search AdWords (search targeted) Contextual Ads Content Match AdWords (content-targeted; AdSense is name for PUBLISHER program) Shopping Listings Product Submit Froogle Feed (free) Travel Listings Travel Submit n/a Directory Listings Directory Submit ODP Submit Local Search Ads Local Sponsored Search AdWords Regional & Local Targeting Local Search Listings Local Enhanced Listings & Local Listings (free) Google Local Business Center News Listings Yahoo News Submissions Google News Source Suggestion

Want to discuss the change from Overture to Yahoo? Visit our forum thread, Yahoo! Search Marketing is Released. Also check out Yahoo To Buy Overture for background on Yahoo buying Overture back in 2003, GoTo Makes Overture To New Name for the last rebranding Overture went through, that of losing it original name of GoTo back in 2001 and GoTo Sells Positions, about GoTo's launch in 1998.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:48 AM | Permalink

April 14, 2005

Yahoo Extends Paid Search Deal With Lycos Europe

Yahoo has extended its existing partnership to provide paid listings to Lycos Europe in what's called a "multi-year" agreement. The deal covers sponsored search results on Lycos sites for the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, Sweden, Austria and Switzerland.

The deal also makes Yahoo the exclusive provider of contextual ads to Lycos Europe properties in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and The Netherlands. Google was the previous contextual provider, to my knowledge, having signed a deal in 2003.

Contextual ads will show up in the chat, email, directory and channel pages in all named countries and additionally in Lycos Shopping pages for all by Spain and The Netherlands.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:39 AM | Permalink

April 12, 2005

Yahoo Acquires TeRespondo Latin American PPC Search Network

Yahoo has acquired TeRespondo, a Brazillan PPC search network that plays in the Latin American market.

Clickz's Kevin Newcomb writes in the article: Yahoo! Buys Brazilian PPC Search Network, that the terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Overture opened an office in Brazil in October 2004 and has built a distribution network that includes Yahoo, Cadê?, IBest and Bondfaro. It will now include all the sites in TeRespondo's network, including MSN Brazil, UOL, IG and Buscapé audience. The company provides each advertiser with a full-service account manager to translate and review client keywords and phrases to make sure they are relevant and effective for a Spanish-speaking audience.

Posted by Gary Price at 4:52 PM | Permalink

March 22, 2005

Yahoo Posts Ad Guidelines & Ad API Info

Yahoo has posted new guidelines about what's acceptable in its search advertising plus some information about its long-standing API system for advertisers.

In my Overture Says No To Guns, Sort Of post, I explained how Yahoo needed to assemble an easy guide to what allowed -- and what's not -- in search ads. The new Unacceptable Content page from Yahoo now provides this guidance. FYI, Google posted a similar guide last year, as explained more in my Google Posts New Ad Guidelines post.

I've also written about the Yahoo API offered to advertisers, something that hasn't been documented on the Yahoo or Overture sites. They've corrected that now, and the new Overture Web Services page provides more info.

For further background, see my The Overture API: Advertiser Web Services post. Also see the Yahoo Search Makes APIs Publicly Available post for info about the new API that taps into Yahoo Search, rather than Yahoo's advertising system.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 1:40 PM | Permalink

March 8, 2005

Yahoo Execs Talk About the Possible End of Ad Relationship with MSN

Last week I blogged an item about Yahoo CEO Terry Semel predicting that Yahoo's advertising deal with MSN will end when Microsoft launches their own ad network. A new AdWeek article: Yahoo! Sees End To Its Deal With MSN, includes a comment from Ted Meisel, Yahoo senior vice president and head of its Overture Services (aka Yahoo Search Marketing Solution) division.

"The right thing for us to do, as a business, is assume one day that MSN will develop its own ad network," Meisel said. "I don't know when that day is or if it will come. Until then, we're going to continue to serve them well."

The article points out that the current Yahoo/MSN advertising contract runs through June 2006.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:49 AM | Permalink

March 7, 2005

Australia's Ansearch Will Use Overture Ads

Ansearch, the new Australia web engine that is set to formally launch on March 31 (we've been blogging about it since November) has signed a two-year deal with Overture (aka Yahoo! Search Marketing Solutions) to provide pay-per-click ads. Additional info in the ZDNet Austalia article: Ansearch signs pay-per-click ad deal. The article also touches on a couple of "new" features that will be available when Ansearch launches.

For its formal launch on March 31, Ansearch will introduce a new features including returning search results based firstly on the relevancy of Web sites to a keyword search and then ranking relevant Web sites according to their popularity with Australian users. Ansearch will also display search results as single Web sites, not single web pages, reducing the number of results (and clutter) but increasing the amount of information available to the user on each Web site.

Btw, I've noticed that Ansearch is now providing some cached content, detailed info about pages, and a page with direct links (aka "site map") to various parts of a web site.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:13 AM | Permalink

March 1, 2005

Yang and Sullivan Chat, Semel Says that MSN Ad Network Likely

The keynote session here at SES in NYC today was a "fireside chat" between Danny and Yahoo Co-Founder and Chief Yahoo!, Jerry Yang. You can read Barry's detailed summary here. Later in the day, Yahoo's CEO, Terry Semel, shared some thoughts during a presentation at the Bear Sterns Media Conference in Florida. A webcast is available here. The AP story: Yahoo's Semel Brushes Off Talk of Movies, offers a few highlights from Semel's presentation.

Key Passages:

+ Semel said it would be ridiculous for Yahoo to produce its own movies or television shows - because the Internet requires more interactive experiences than traditional media.

+ Without providing specifics, Semel indicated Yahoo believes it can provide more compelling material simply by developing additional ways for its 345 million users to create and share more of their own content.

+ Whatever content Yahoo produces, "it has to be more unique and hopefully more clever" than other mass media, Semel said.

+ Semel predicted Tuesday that Microsoft is likely to break away and form its own advertising network to compete with the ones run by Yahoo and online search engine leader Google Inc.

In November, MSN extended their contract with Yahoo! Search Marketing Solutions (formerly Overture) through June 2006.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:05 PM | Permalink

So Long Overture, Hello Yahoo! Search Marketing Solutions

A bit of re-branding news to begin the month of March. The Overture brand is no more. All of Overture's and Yahoo's marketing services will now use the name: Yahoo! Search Marketing Solutions. Details in this news release.

Posted by Gary Price at 10:14 AM | Permalink

February 7, 2005

Overture Says No To Guns, Sort Of

Google's pretty well known for not allowing gun ads, which can get gun merchants upset that porn ads are allowed but gun ads aren't. But Overture doesn't allow gun ads, as well. A new move? That's what I wondered when the issue came up on our forum thread Overture now banning gun related ads? last November.

Overture told me a ban on gun ads had been in place for over two years. But then forum moderator AussieWebmaster noted that a search for gun on Overture brought back some paid listings. Checking again today, I see one there that leads to a hunting web site that sells pistols, shotguns, rifles and revolvers. So if there is a ban, it's a leaky one.

Meanwhile, there's nothing in Overture's listing guidelines that seems to advertisers that gun ads are not allowed. In contrast, there are special regulations for:

Adult sites: can only bid on certain terms; must carry disclaimer.
Gambling sites: not allowed.
Online pharmacies: must gain third party approval in order to advertise; Canadian pharmacies aren't supposed to market to Americans.

The guidelines also had specific rules until some time within 2004 covering:

Job/Employment: terms "job" and "employment" could only be sold to web sites dealing specifically with "an employee/employer relationship." IE, services such as job interview preparation weren't allowed.
Cars/Auto: To big on the term "car" or related terms sites had to offer cars for sale, rental or lease, repair services or information.
Wine: Sites selling win had to be approved by a third party service, similar to how the current online pharmacy approval program works.

You can see the old guidelines here. They're dated from June 2003 and no longer linked to on the Overture web site (that I can see), but I could still find them through a search on both Yahoo and Google.

If those guidelines are dated June 2003, why do I say they were still active at some point in 2004? Google's cached copy of a version of the current page still shows information about the job, car and wine ad restrictions in place and a 2004 copyright date at the bottom (the date of the Google page cache itself is useless. A server error appears to give the page a date of 1969).

Going back to the forum discussion, some correspondence from Overture's support department has been posted suggesting that gun ads aren't a problem, as long as they don't involve assault weapons.

The entire thing underscores the fact that if there are going to be restrictions placed on any ad, then these should be spelled out clearly for advertisers before ads are actually placed. Google seems to have finally learned this lesson, with an expanded set of rules that was published in November: Google Posts New Ad Guidelines. It seems like Overture may have more spelling out that it needs to do, as well.

Postscript: Overture tells me there is indeed a ban on ads for sites that sell or give away "Automatic weapons, military-style assault weapons, as well as products and parts that make these weapons work." and that a policy on this is being readied for publication on its site. Postscript 2: Guidelines have now been posted, as covered here: Yahoo Posts Ad Guidelines & Ad API Info

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 7:54 AM | Permalink

January 24, 2005

The Overture API: Advertiser Web Services

With the rumors going about Google's API, it's worth noting that Overture already has one -- and says this has been the case since 2001.

Called Advertiser Web Services, AWS allows Overture advertisers to interact with their campaigns through an XML format. Overture tells me:

It serves as a conduit for interacting directly with Overture's products and tools and provides an open platform and universal data format that can be adapted to manage Overture accounts, listings, bids and more.
The automation capabilities provided XML API are more efficient than the standard web based UI, reducing cost per transaction or allowing current advertiser resources to focus on optimization and other value-added roles.
It offers the ability to create customized applications with automated business rules that govern Overture campaign management and optimization
Provides account, campaign and keyword performance reporting in readable format to a licensee's back-end systems
It's free to Overture advertisers but fee-based for technology providers and third parties. Overture says when fees are charged, these are only to cover any actual costs incurred to maintain the system.

The API doesn't allow advertisers to cherry-pick which sites in the Overture network that they'll target. But the rumor that Google's API will allows this is just that -- a rumor, and one I find surprising and perhaps caused by some confusion between managing campaigns and controlling where ads will actually appear.

How to find out more about Overture Advertiser Web Services? Sadly, there's no page at Overture I can point you at. Instead, contact your ad rep.

Postscript: An info page has now been posted.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:40 PM | Permalink

January 18, 2005

Yahoo Doesn't Need Six Apart Or Blog Ownership For Ad Purposes

It's kind of obvious that Yahoo will gain some type of blogging solution in the future. It's the only major portal not to offer this, as I've written before: MSN's Third Portal To Gain Blogs; Where's The Blog Search?

David Jackson has a write-up in Yahoo to acquire Six Apart? on why he thinks Yahoo will gain blogging capabilities by acquiring the makers of the popular Movable Type platform.

MovableType's great -- we use it ourselves -- and so would be of interest to anyone who wants to own blogging technology. But the idea Jackson has that Yahoo needs blogs to fuel its pay-per-click growth? Nah.

Google bought Blogger because it was cheap and it figured it could make money but putting its contextual ads out on many of the Blogger sites. But Google later pulled those ads and make them optional. That's wise, because you aren't going to make friends by forcing anyone to carry your ads. So much for needing to own the platform to build ad revenue.

In addition, blogs can be hard to target with ads, given that they often have different types of content mixed onto the same page. MediaPost just had an article looking at this: Blog Ads Hit Rough Patches.

Google's real success with AdSense hasn't been in owning the blogging platform. First, it has signed partnerships with major publishers. Second, it offers an easy-to-use self-serve system that anyone can tap into. Google rolled that out last year, and now you all but stumble over its AdSense placements.

If Yahoo really wanted to turn the web into its billboards, in the way Google does, it would make more sense to have a similar type of paid listings program that any publisher could use.

The downside is that in doing so, advertisers have less control over the targeting of their ads. Kraft wasn't happy to find itself showing up on a pro-white web site recently: Kraft Supports Pro-White Groups? Lack Of Search Ad Targeting Makes It So. Open the flood-gates of self-serve, and problems like this for Google could hit Yahoo as well.

Cory Kleinschmidt over at Traffick takes another swing at the targeting problem in his recent AdSense Faces Extinction -- Unless Google Shakes Things Up post. In it, he points out how uneven targeting is an issue that threatens AdSense. He also notes there are other programs out there to tempt bloggers and other publishers -- which means again, owning the platform doesn't guarantee you the billboard space.

There are good reasons for Yahoo to own a blogging platform, and maybe it will be Six Apart. But the assumption that paid ad placement as a key reason to do so isn't a major factor, from where I sit.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:45 AM | Permalink

January 13, 2005

Yahoo Testing Sponsored Links at Yahoo Auctions

A brief post on the AuctionBytes web sites mentions that Yahoo is running a test (this week only) and placing sponsored links inside Yahoo! Auctions listings. More in the story: Yahoo Inserts 'Sponsored Links' Ads Inside Auction Listings and this page on the Yahoo Auctions site.

Posted by Gary Price at 9:32 AM | Permalink

NYT On Google Ad Copy Policies - Overture Barely Gets A Mention

Advertisers on Google Are Told to Keep It Proper from the New York Times looks at how it's not anything goes with ads on Google, in terms of language, spelling and grammar.

Yahoo-owned Overture has policies like this too -- and has had them longer than Google since it was Overture, not Google, that created that paid search revolution that both companies are now harvesting.

You might not realize this from the article. The fact that Overture has policies warrants an "also" mention way, way, way down at the bottom of the page. That's it. Despite having a nearly even split of the search ad world, the good/poor folks over at Overture didn't apparently warrant a quote or any extended look.

To put this in perspective, it's like the New York Times just did a big article about how NBC -- a major television network in the US -- has editorial policies on its ads but didn't bother to examine or talk to those from ABC or CBS -- equally large networks.

The article focus isn't on some of Google's controversial ad policies that have come up in the past. Instead, it's more about language and creative issues. "Check em out" wasn't allowed in an ad the story's author had placed, but "check them out" was. That sort of thing.

Hey, nice to see the Denver News Agency so knowledgeable about Google's ad system. It chimes in to the story with: "Google's ads are just placed online without any human interaction."

Um, no. First of all, some human interaction placed the ad in the first place. It IS true that ads are allowed to go online at Google before review (unlike the case with Overture, kudos to them) which has made for some embarrassment with Google in the past. But all ads, Google says, are supposed to be reviewed by humans at some point, usually within 24 hours.

The time may be longer with some ads that hit terms that aren't very frequent or which generate little revenue, but it may only be hours before an ad for popular terms or which generates much revenue is reviewed, said Salar Kamangar, director of product management at Google, told me last week when I talked with him about Google's new one ad per merchant policy. But all ads are supposed to be eventually reviewed.

Having said this, there's still the case where ads tapping into automated creation of titles and description aren't really going before humans at both Google and Overture. Gary's post last month points out some issues this raises: Poor Relevancy and Automated Search Ads.

For some related information on this topic see:

Compare & Contrast: Ad Guidelines At Overture & Google: My article from August 2002 looked in depth at how you couldn't just say anything in ads at Google and Overture. Yep -- time for a revisit. I'm working on it for the near future
Search Ads within our Search Topics area for Search Engine Watch members provides links to articles on the topic of editorial policies and other issues stretching back for years. The Google: AdWords and Yahoo: Overture Ads categories have related material specific to those services.
Google Posts New Ad Guidelines looks at Google clarifying policies on what it will and will not accept as advertising period, aside from the language of ads. It links to the current content policy page plus to a background article on issues prompting the creation of that page.
Kraft Supports Pro-White Groups? Lack Of Search Ad Targeting Makes It So from last week looks at how while the search ad networks impose controls on advertisers, advertisers themselves need more control they can impose on the networks -- any why this was a painful lesson for Kraft.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 8:16 AM | Permalink

January 7, 2005

Kraft Supports Pro-White Groups? Lack Of Search Ad Targeting Makes It So

I've long written that advertisers should be able to pick and choose exactly where they show up in a search company's network. Gary just passed along a great news story he found, Story search reveals Google glitch, that illustrates why this is so.

"Why would Kraft Foods, Jennie-O and the other companies listed support White Revolution?" the story asks, after finding these companies and organizations including the NAACP had ads coming up in the Google-powered search results at a pro-white web site.

Kraft certainly didn't want to do that, as the story details. But it had no choice, if it wants to tap into Google's network beyond Google itself.

With Google, if you buy a search-targeted ad, that ad runs on only Google-owned sites or the broader Google ad network (Google + Google partners). If you go broad, you go with everyone. You can't pick and choose exactly where you show up.

I've likened this at our conferences as going to a TV network and saying you'd like advertise. Sure -- love to have your ad! But you have to run that ad in the middle of every program we offer, regardless of whether you don't like or want to support some of those programs. No prime-time cherry picking for you, valued advertiser.

As is often the case, this isn't just a Google thing. You buy Overture, you're buying everyone in the Overture network as well. And unlike Google, you can't at least pull back to just say Overture's parent, Yahoo. You take all places that carry Overture, Yahoo and beyond.

Going back to the article, it gets lost assuming that the problem is some type of bad targeting on Google's part that it should fix, which one source quoted (almost certainly not a search marketing person) assumes would be "astronomical and prohibitive" to implement.

Please. This is not an automatic targeting problem that needs to be solved. It's a lack of control problem. The search ad networks don't give advertisers enough control, so this type of thing will happen.

In contrast, Blog Ads Hit Rough Patches from MediaPost today illustrates the full (or at least much better) control Google will give publishers. That story illustrates problems we've heard before where contextual ad targeting may go amiss. But if a publisher doesn't want certain ads, they can block them. Pity advertisers can't block from their end. They might not have wanted to end up on the blogs upset to get the poor targeting in the first place -- especially since they're footing the bill!

The story is a great read. Watch how Kraft can't figure out what's going on, then bumps the responsibility over to the firm handling its search marketing, Modem Media, then comes back saying its working on a way to ensure this never gets repeated.

Yeah, good luck Kraft. Since you don't know all the sites that might carry Google's listings, there no way you'll prevent this other than to stop advertising with Google's network as a whole. You can pull back to advertising on just Google, of course -- that will still get you plenty of traffic. But over at Overture, you'd don't get that option -- so guess you'll have to stop advertising with them entirely.

Can you ask for a better illustration of how immature search is and how desperately the search networks need to give advertisers better control, a problem that's been raised for ages? Can you imagine Kraft wanting to advertise in the offline world but being told it can't control exactly what magazines or newspapers or television shows will be associated with its message, when it turned to a major publisher or media outlet?

Google, by the way, solved this particular problem by dropping the pro-white site from its Google AdSense For Search program for reasons it wouldn't say (see also New Google WebSearch Program Pays Publishers For Searches for more about that program).

Finally, some additional kudos to little Mirago, a UK-based service has let you pick and choose where your search ads show in its network since October 2003. Why? Because its chief technology officer Derek Preston was at our SES conference in August 2003, heard advertisers complaining they wanted control and went back to implement it for Mirago. Didn't take a team of PhDs to make it happen, so I don't think we've got a big technological hurdle for Google or Overture to overcome. They just have to want to do it.

Here's a past forum thread on the topic of advertiser choice: Protest PPC Engine Content Partner Distribution.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:30 AM | Permalink

December 1, 2004

Overture Settles With Geico Over Trademark Case

While Geico and Google are still heading to court, as blogged yesterday, MediaPost reports that Geico and Overture have reached a settlement: Overture Settles Trademark Dispute With Geico. Big news! Settlement details are confidential, but the fact that Overture has decided to settle rather than battle for a legal victory might simply invite even more companies to go after it.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 9:16 AM | Permalink

November 18, 2004

Overture Extends Deal With Microsoft As MS Builds Its Own Technology

A news release let's us know that Overture has extended their relationship with Microsoft through June, 2006.

Under the terms of the extension, Overture will continue to provide its sponsored search results to MSN sites in the U.S. and Canada, Europe and Asia. The previous agreement ran through June 2005.

The WSJ is reporting (subscribers only) reports that Microsoft is building its own technology. A portion of the article is available here.

+ Microsoft also is building its own ad-placement technology, which could allow it one day to displace Yahoo, according to people familiar with the matter. + The people familiar with the matter said Microsoft expects to release a test version of its ad-placement system by the second half of next year. But it remains unclear whether, or when, Microsoft plans to replace the Yahoo-provided ads with its own. The contract extension suggests Microsoft doesn't think its own system will be ready by the middle of next year.

Want to discuss? Visit our forum thread: Overture Extends Relationship with MSN up to June 2006

Posted by Gary Price at 12:14 AM | Permalink

November 4, 2004

Overture Considering Flat Rate Pricing

I've written before that we'll see a move away from bidding on keywords in favor of paying for leads, regardless of the terms used by those leads/searchers to find us. Now Overture says it's something they are considering: flat rate pricing to make search easier for small and medium sized businesses. More from this ClickZ article, Yahoo!'s Overture Looks At Simpler Models to Court Advertisers.

I can see that coming -- just as I can see flat rate pricing making life easier for big advertisers, as well. If you're Nike, and you want to be tops for shoes, writing a big giant check for guaranteed top placement makes a lot more sense that trying to manage thousands of keywords. It'll come.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 23, 2004

Overture Opens Ambassador Program To Traditional Ad Agencies

Overture's long-standing Ambassador program for search engine marketing firms is now allowing interactive and traditional ad agencies to participate. More details from ClickZ in Overture, Google Reach Out to Agencies.

The program provides participants with greater support in reselling Overture's products. It does not provide a commission on sales. The ClickZ article also covers how Google says it trying to do more to educate agencies about search marketing.

The issue of commissions came up earlier this year in our forums: Agency Commission Or Discount Offered On Search Ads? The nasty rumor was agencies were being given a commission by the search companies while SEM firms were not. Both Overture and Google eventually told me that at least in the US, they aren't offering commission payments to anyone.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 22, 2004

Take On Overture Canada, From A Canadian Search Marketer

The planned Overture Canada has Canadian Andrew Goodman pleased. Now his clients who just want to target Canada won't have to pick up the United States, as well. But how exactly will it play out -- separate accounts required? (I'm guessing yes, given how Overture has operated in other countries). His observations on the expansion here from Traffick: Eh-Per-Click.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 20, 2004

Overture Expanding To Brazil, Canada, China

Overture's sent news that beginning the fourth quarter of this year, it will expand services to cover Brazil, Canada and China (with apparently separate offices for China, Hong Kong and Taiwan).

To date, Overture operates in the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Korea, Japan and Australia.

Want to comment or read discussion of this topic? Please visit this thread in our forums: Overture opening in Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 2, 2004

Overture Going To Default Broad Matching

Within the next few weeks, Overture will make a major switch to matching terms on a broad basis, rather than the traditional exact match default it has followed since the company's launch. My article in SearchDay today provides an advanced look at what's to come: Overture Shifting To Default Broad Match.

Posted by Danny Sullivan at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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