August 9, 2006

From the outset, Yahoo Search Marketing has been using the same auction bidding system that GoTo.com has when it started almost 8 years ago.

Advertisers have been asking for a new updated system which would compliment the diversity of the Yahoo Advertising Network.

Search engine marketing isn't just sponsored links above and beside organic search results. In Yahoo’s case, the company has expanded search beyond the box and into their most used and popular channels. Enter Yahoo Trip Planner, Yahoo Answers, Yahoo News and Yahoo Local. All remarkable and defining offerings from the same company that has a clear view of the future online.

As an old-time advertiser and Yahoo Search Marketing Ambassador I have shared the frustration of many in the search marketing field when Yahoo launches a new service. Take Yahoo Local City Guides with Integrated Answers for example. It’s time for a change and such a transition is coming soon.

The new Yahoo Search Marketing application launch schedule has been set with the new Application Launch in the fourth quarter and Ranking Scheme rollout in the first quarter of 2007. Yahoo Search Marketing has been planning its application for five years, along with up to 1,000 private testers of the new Yahoo Search Marketing system.

The first system change is probably the most relevant to current advertisers. The pricing system will transform from auction clicks to a newer more marketable PPC system based upon ROI and Quality Score (dumping auction set-up). Marketing focus with the emphasis on quality, multiple segment targeting and the management of such objectives.

Like PPC, targeting is a lot more than just keywords and creatives are beyond text with graphics and user media. Calls to action will go beyond a target URL with couponing and specific landing destinations geared towards the user’s web surfing applications of choice: mobile PDAs, laptops, cellular phones and PCs.

This all begins with the definition of geo-targeting, which is largely determined by the advertiser in a new system that empowers the user to select specific local DMA’s and area zones with help from a Yahoo Search Marketing mapping system.

Secondly, the campaign is named by the user. Sponsored listings or contextual matches can be selected, then Yahoo helps the user determine keywords with a new recommendation system. The advertiser then selects pricing via a new Yahoo CPC/Click system which works with a slider-bar mechanism that can provide a landscape of bids & clicks.

In such fashion, the advertiser can set up their campaign to provide a certain amount of clicks while Yahoo also informs the advertiser of shares of potential clicks and their competitive market within the Yahoo Search Marketing environment.

Yahoo now also lets advertisers insert dynamic keywords into their title and ad copy, along with a Yahoo-powered split (A or B) testing service which can be optimized by Yahoo, or manually by the advertiser. Budgets can be set at the account or the campaign level, allowing particular testing or differently targeted campaign runs on certain percentages of any given budget.

Dayparting (even coast to coast differentiation) and campaign scheduling are planned to be part of the system, which should help newer marketers get a campaign up and going over a certain amount of time more efficiently than in the past. Yahoo has even set up a clever notification system similar to YPN called Alerts which let the advertiser know when keywords are declined, or if budgets are reaching a critical level, along with billing or credit information.

Alerts can also be customized by the advertiser so YSM will inform the user with customized data critical to each specific campaign. Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) is also a feature where Yahoo will automatically optimize a site which is utilizing the Yahoo Search Marketing conversion tracking system.

CPA budgeting brings the usability and positive experience from the third party SEM management systems into the Yahoo Experience. Assistance is also added to the metrics of the application which helps track the target market search behavior and keywords searched for, on the path to making that final purchasing decision. This all makes that information readily available to any advertiser.

Yahoo’s careful planning, its usage of focus groups, its input from some of its top advertisers and a slow rollout seems to be paying handsomely, with a launch planned for today at the Search Engine Strategies (SES) as Yahoo marks its first public display and presentation of its system to its advertising base.

Features such as CPA targeting, expedited editorial approval, a slider-payment solution and geo-targeting resulted in a very favorable response by the attendees of the special Yahoo session. There were even some clapping, hooting and hollering by many in the crowd.

It seems that Yahoo has a rather large following in the anticipation of the 2007 rollout, which should be expanding by the day.

Source: Search Engine Journal