Smoothing Your Upgrade

Follow these tips to achieve new Sponsored Search nirvana

Last week, we talked about how to “be prepared” for the new Sponsored Search. Today, as promised, we offer ten tips you’ll want to act on to help ensure that your transition is successful before and during your upgrade.

Before Your Upgrade
1. Make sure all of your contact information is up-to-date.
Two important reasons for this: First, you will receive important upgrade news and information before your upgrade via email, regular mail and/or phone. Second, the location entered in your billing contact information will determine the time zone in which your report data is displayed, and this cannot be changed after you are upgraded. So please be sure we have your correct billing contact info, so that you are fully informed and are seeing data with the right time displayed.

2. Be on the lookout for an email with your individual upgrade date.
We’ve begun the process of upgrading U.S. advertisers to the new advertising platform. Invitations to upgrade will continue to be sent in stages to U.S. advertisers over the remainder of the year and early next year. Your upgrade date will be provided to you at least two weeks in advance via email and regular mail. At least one week before your upgrade date, an “Upgrade Preview” link will appear within your current account that will take you to a clickable, read-only preview of what your account will look like after the upgrade. That’s right, you’ll get to actually see what your upgraded account will look like before the upgrade happens.

3. Download your current listings.
You should download all of your listings as they currently appear in your account to a spreadsheet to retain a record of them for future reference.

4. Categorize your ads in your current account.
Today’s “categories” will be tomorrow’s “campaigns,” so please make sure your categories are…er, categorized appropriately. Consider creating categories for listings related to: a specific product or service; a particular marketing goal; a seasonal or time-sensitive promotion; or a group of listings you manage closely. Remember though, you are limited to a total of 20 campaigns per account.

5. Check the Upgrade Center regularly.
Make sure to continue to check the Upgrade Center for the most up-to-date info on the upgrade. In both, you will find links to an extensive Help Center, tutorials, this blog and much more.

6. Check the editorial status page right before your upgrade.
Since pending listings will not be transferred to your new account, you’ll want to make note of any pending listings that you may want to resubmit after your account has been upgraded.

Once Your Preview is Available
7. Log into your current account.
You’ll get notification in your current account, as well as via email, of your opportunity to preview your account in the new account structure, at least one week in advance. You’ll be able to access your new account preview through your current account. (You may need to log-in a second time to get the initial access to the preview.)

8. Click the “Preview” button in the alert in your current account.
Ever wish you could look into the future to see how things will turn out? Well, when it comes to upgrading your account, you can. Use the preview to get familiar with the new layout and features before you upgrade.

9. Click the “Upgrade Now” button to begin your upgrade.
Once you’ve reviewed your account preview, you can start the upgrade process yourself by clicking the “Upgrade Now” button that will be visible within your current account. This will allow you to start taking advantage of all the new features right away.

10. Control the time of your upgrade by proactively upgrading your account.
Consider clicking the “Upgrade Now” button at the end of a business day, as it could take up to eight hours for the system to complete your upgrade, though no action is necessary on your part during this time. If you have questions, please call 866-YAHOO-98.

By taking these steps, your upgrade to the new Sponsored Search should be a smooth one.

-The Team