January 23, 2007

For many years the public Yahoo Inventory Tool (YIT) was frequently criticized for its lack of accuracy. In 2007, and as Yahoo is hinting it will no longer support it, the SEM industry is quickly realizing how relevant the tool was in shaping the industry.

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Originally dubbed as the Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool, the Internet-based application allowed users to identify the number of times a keyword or search term was queried across the Yahoo network during the previous month.

Specifically, up to a hundred derivatives of this keyword are provided along with search volume. Clicking on a derivative generates yet another list of derivatives, displaying a powerful visual of the long tail in just a few moments.

In discussing this popular topic with SEO and SEM industry experts, Kevin Lee of Did-It.com said, “nothing beat the Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool (OKST) for illustrating various keyword queries to search marketers. Overall, letting them choose the right keyword was powerful.” While John Battelle’s concept of “the database of intentions” might be based on what is under Google’s system, it was Overture (now Yahoo) that first made this data available to everyday people.

Yahoo's suggestion tool has been a primary source of research for many a search marketer for pitches, proposals or actual campaigns. For those with dedication, tracking queries over an extended period of time informed seasonality, changing consumer tastes or even the search effect of offline media campaigns.

In just a few minutes, you could not only describe the target market’s behavior, but quantify it as well. In the end, it never ceased to amaze those on the other side of the table. Exclamations such as “but why are people searching for that product? We discontinued it two years ago!” quickly materialized into minor consumer behavior revelations.

Over time, other tools then became popular as industry leaders criticized the overall accuracy of Yahoo's tool as far as estimated volume as well as the editorial aspect. Today, pragmatists such as Andrew Wagner of TrafficBuyer Digital still agree that the tool is both directional and helpful. Andy Beal of MarketingPilgrim said, “the numbers were never accurate, despite our many years of trying to apply a multiplier that would lead to a fair representation of actual search frequencies.”

Kevin Lee also agreed: “the data was always taken with a grain of salt, but having counts presented, even when they were obviously inaccurate, brought the data to life.” It wasn’t until some in the industry held 'Search 101' seminars that they realized just how much the Yahoo keyword suggestion tool had aged. At certain times, it didn’t even make any sense at all! On a call with some Yahoo employees, some of the greatest fears were confirmed: Yahoo will not longer support it in the near future.

As a potential replacement, Hugh Burnham of RareMethod suggests that the Trellian Keyword Discovery tool, coupled with MSN adCenter research could potentially get some insight as to how and where to advertise most effectively today.

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Source: DM News