Yahoo Spruces Up its Search Marketing

Despite the fact that Yahoo has lost search market share for the many consecutive months as well as the fact that Microsoft will supposedly be taking over its search operations, it has announced some major upgrades and additions to its search marketing business. The list includes an offline desktop management tool, a broader roll out of its Rich Ads in Search (RAIS), enhanced network bidding control, and innovations to their ad selection technology. In more detail, here’s what to expect:

• Yahoo Search Marketing Desktop Tool – this will make it MUCH easier and faster to make bulk changes, restructure, edit, or expand ad campaigns. Advertisers have been waiting for this along time and, if it is a solid product, it will be much appreciated by PPC managers everywhere.

• Rich Ads in Search – launched earlier this year and only available to select advertiser’s in the U.S. for a flat fee. Starting next week, Yahoo plans to sell RAIS via CPC bidding with all of Yahoo’s targeting capabilities and allow them to be managed from the Yahoo Search Marketing web UI. For now, however, the ads will still only be offered to select advertisers.
• Enhanced network bidding control – will allow advertisers to create separate ad campaigns, with separate bids, for ads that appear on Yahoo only, on partner sites only, or both. This could make a huge difference considering Yahoo’s huge partner network and will allow for more extensive campaign optimization. Another addition most welcome by advertisers.
• New Search Results Page – will provide users with more functions to filter, discover, and explore related information.
• Continuous improvement of search ad technology:
  • Adjusted pricing model – “to better align what you pay with the value of the clicks you receive”
  • Improved ad selection technology – this will improve the way ads are matched to consumer queries.
  • Search That Learns – Yahoo’s initiative to study search behaviour over time to learn what various users are looking for and their intent.

Whether this is too little too late for Yahoo, or even just a massive attempt to catch up to the innovations of both Google and Bing, it definitely makes a clear statement that Yahoo does in fact still care about search.

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