Think Short

Short Descriptions to be Required Starting in May

I’m sorry this letter is so long, but I did not have time to make it shorter.

—Mark Twain or Blaise Pascal

Scholars differ about the source of the quote above. Some think Twain said it. Others think Pascal said it. It doesn’t matter, because either way, it’s spot-on. Writing concisely is harder and often more time-consuming than writing verbosely. But it’s also more effective. English teachers have been saying so for a century or more.

Selling Short?
Our users’ search experience is key to your success: We’ve found that ads written more concisely give users a better experience and perform better for advertisers. When users are exposed to higher quality search ads you, the advertiser, may attract more interested and enthusiastic potential customers.

As an advertiser, you have two options for your ad descriptions, one long (up to 190 characters) and one short (70 characters or fewer). At present, you may use either. Starting in May, however, a short description will be required, while a long description will be optional. This means for all new or modified ads you must provide a short description. And starting in June, ad descriptions longer than 70 characters may automatically be cut off in Yahoo! Sponsored Search results. We will shorten the description at the nearest complete word to 70 characters, followed by an ellipsis (”…”). Long descriptions will continue to be shown on some of our external distribution partner web sites.

It’s Best to Start Early
The long and short of it is that if you have not provided short descriptions (fewer than 70 characters) for your ads in the past, we recommend that you do now, before June, when the change occurs in Yahoo! Sponsored Search results. Ads that are “truncated”—or automatically cut off after 70 characters—may not be as relevant and may get a lower Quality Index score and, potentially, a lower ranking in search results.

To add a short description to a given ad:

Log into your account
Click the Campaigns tab
Click on a campaign containing the ad(s) you wish to modify
Select the specific ad group containing the ad(s) you wish to modify
Click on the Ads tab
Click on the name of the ad you wish to modify
Write a short description in the box indicated on the “Create Your Ad” page
Click “Save Changes”

The “Create Your Ad” page looks like this:

Here are a few tips for writing effective short ad descriptions:

Shorter is Sweeter
Web copy should only be 25 percent as long as print copy, in ads as well as other text.

A Short Sentence
What do they say about marriage? It’s not a word, it’s a sentence? Well, your short description is usually better off as a sentence than a fragmented set of words. Instead of “Discount chocolates from Mike. Starting $4.99 per box. Sale! For limited time only” try “Enjoy Mike’s gourmet chocolates, now on sale at just $4.99 a box.”

Strunk and White Were Right
Follow these simple rules from William Strunk and E.B. White’s famous writing guide The Elements of Style:

Make every word tell—Every word should be to-the-point and none wasted
Omit needless words—See above
Use the active voice—”Give the gift of sweetness with Mike’s affordable gourmet chocolates” is better than, “Mike’s gourmet chocolates are known to be the sweetest treats around, are quite inexpensive and make a great gift.”
Put statements in positive form—Instead of saying “Mike’s chocolates are known to be loved among gourmets,” say “Gourmets love Mike’s chocolates.”

For more tips on writing good ad descriptions, see the post “Creating Ad Copy that Clicks” from Mona Elesseily, author of the Yahoo! Search Marketing Handbook.

Not so Much Rules as Guidelines
OK, maybe they are more like rules than guidelines. In fact, our Editorial Guidelines pretty much dictate what can and can’t go into a Yahoo! Sponsored Search or Content Match ad. If you haven’t looked at them in a while, you might want to review them before creating or revising any short descriptions. Click here to view our Editorial Guidelines.

Please note that after the introduction of truncation in May, the space limit for titles will remain at 40 characters, while display URLs will be reduced to a maximum of 35 characters. We’ll go more into that later. And, of course, we’ll post a reminder to include short descriptions if you haven’t already.

For more information, please visit this page or call Customer Solutions at 1-866-YAHOO-SM

—Michael Mattis

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42 Comments Add your own

1. Yahoo Shortening Ad Descr&hellip | April 5th, 2007 at 2:57 pm

[...] Yahoo has announced that they will be shortening the length of search ad descriptions from a maximum of 190 characters to 75 characters. [...]
2. Gaetano | April 6th, 2007 at 3:03 am

Carducci, an Italian poet, also said “The one who says in 20 words what can be said in 10 is also capable of all the other evil deeds”
3. The Long and Short of It &hellip | April 6th, 2007 at 5:32 am

[...] Yahoo! announced yesterday that short ad texts will be required come May. So, for those of you who are only utilizing the long ad text option should go and begin evolving, or become extinct. Maybe it’s not that dramatic, but you know what I mean. [...]
4. Stephen | April 6th, 2007 at 11:02 am

Are we still going to be required to have punctuation at the end of our ad copy? That one extra character means a lot to my clients, especially when we’re limited to 70 characters.

I don’t see much value being added by requiring periods at the end of short keywords ad copy.
5. Rick Kimmons | April 6th, 2007 at 2:03 pm

I’m not sure if short ads will help or hurt, but Yahoo should only put paid search ads on the first page of a search. We pay for the space, but quite often the free ads have better positioning than ours. This would stop a lot of bull and eliminate these rip off artist who claim to get your free listing close to the top of the search for a high fee. People spend hundreds of hours adding crap to their websites just to be #1 on the free list. But once it is done, they don’t have to spend much time at all. Come on Yahoo, you will make more money that way as well.
6. Jim | April 6th, 2007 at 2:27 pm

Does ayone else feel like this is slowly becoming just like AdWords? First the hidden top bids and Google-like bidding system, now this. I hope enough users are turned off enough to let them know that hat we liked Overture the way it was! I am a developer who manages many client accounts, and I am taking them all offline for 1 week in protest starting Monday, April 9th. Join me if you dislike the transformation of Yahoo Search Marleting too.
7. Administrator | April 6th, 2007 at 2:45 pm

Stephen asks:

Are we still going to be required to have punctuation at the end of our ad copy?

Yes, we do require correct punctuation at the end of the description. On submission, our system automatically adds a period at the end of a description if the last character is not:

• A period
• A question mark
• An exclamation point
• A quotation mark preceded by period or question mark

We have found that users perceive descriptions with complete sentences as more trustworthy and are more likely to purchase from a client that they associate with quality. If your listing in longer than 70 characters when we begin ‘truncating’ in June, an ellipsis (”…”) will automatically be added after the nearest complete word to 70 characters that does not end in appropriate punctuation.

-John Cathey-Roberts, Sr. Manager, Content and Product Policy
8. This Week In SEO - 4/6/07&hellip | April 6th, 2007 at 5:30 pm

[...] Short Descriptions to be Required Starting in May [...]
9. Joe | April 6th, 2007 at 6:08 pm

This Yahoo new thing is the pits!
Why bother there are other search engines I could use insted of this one.
10. Michale Stanberry | April 6th, 2007 at 11:45 pm

Is there Yahoo search Ads to use with the web site key codes that i have. Problem with afiliate link when they are not link correctly like with short Ads.
11. TechQuicky | April 7th, 2007 at 4:34 am

I think this is great! Shorter ads will be much more easier on users, and ultimately advertisers want people to click their ads more often. Read my post on this at http://techquicky.blogspot.com/2007/04/yahoos-kiss-technique.html
12. Yahoo! reducirá sus desc&hellip | April 7th, 2007 at 9:49 am

[...] A partir de Mayo, y aplicable completamente en Junio de este 2007, los anuncios de Yahoo! Search Marketing deberán reducir su tamaño de 190 caracteres a 70. Hasta ahora la descripción corta no era obligatoria, pero a partir de Mayo lo será, y en Junio, aquellos anuncios que sigan con su descripción larga serán cortados y se les añadirá unos puntos suspensivos. As an advertiser, you have two options for your ad descriptions, one long (up to 190 characters) and one short (70 characters or fewer). At present, you may use either. Starting in May, however, a short description will be required, while a long description will be optional. This means for all new or modified ads you must provide a short description. And starting in June, ad descriptions longer than 70 characters may automatically be cut off in Yahoo! Sponsored Search results. We will shorten the description at the nearest complete word to 70 characters, followed by an ellipsis (”…”). Long descriptions will continue to be shown on some of our external distribution partner web sites. [...]
13. If I Had More Time, I Wou&hellip | April 7th, 2007 at 7:59 pm

[...] If I Had More Time, I Would Have Written a Shorter Ad Sounds like Yahoo thinks so, too. Starting in June, Yahoo will require that pay-per-click ads be 70 characters or fewer (currently, you have an long-copy option to include up to 190 characters). [...]
14. Bob Gayle | April 8th, 2007 at 9:17 am

Regarding the number of characters, do spaces between words count as characters?
15. High End Web Names Blog &&hellip | April 9th, 2007 at 3:00 am

[...] Yahoo has announced that they will require advertisers to provide a shorter 70-character description for all PPC ads as of May. The current 190-character descriptions will then be optional and will only be used in certain ad formats. In June, Yahoo will then begin cutting off ads at 70 characters. The maximum length of ad titles will remain 40 characters, but the displayed URLs will be shortened to a 35-character maximum. Sphere It [...]
16. Nadeem (Azam.biz) | April 9th, 2007 at 4:48 am

Longer ads were superior because the user had a clearer idea of what they would get when they clicked on the ad.

This will result in people clicking more PPC ads in the listings to eventually find what they are looking for - and make more money for Yahoo.
17. Stephen | April 9th, 2007 at 8:51 am

Again, another thumbs down for Yahoo. I’m seeing less product differentiation between their product and Google’s on the implementation advertising side.

Long descriptions was a nice differentiator, especially if you could afford the premium spots.

At least Google’s editorial process with max 70 character copy ads (including spaces and punctuation) accepts sentence fragments without periods.
18. Bob | April 9th, 2007 at 9:30 am

YAHOO - PLEASE STOP WASTING MY TIME - YOUR INCESSANT EMAILS ARE BEGINNING TO FEEL LIKE SPAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
19. PPC Hero » Blog Arc&hellip | April 9th, 2007 at 11:54 am

[...] Yahoo’s decision to require shorter ad descriptions comes with great tips for writing short, relevant and powerful messages. [...]
20. PPC Hero : The Long and S&hellip | April 9th, 2007 at 6:51 pm

[...] Yahoo! announced yesterday that short ad texts will be required come May. So, for those of you who are only utilizing the long ad text option should go and begin evolving, or become extinct. Maybe it’s not that dramatic, but you know what I mean. [...]
21. Updates from Yahoo! Panam&hellip | April 9th, 2007 at 8:03 pm

[...] Just would like to inform everyone of the updates as received from my subscription, its official release and from a blog elsewhere in cased you missed yours or you failed to notice the message: [...]
22. PPC Hero: Heroic Feats of&hellip | April 11th, 2007 at 8:00 am

[...] Yahoo! announced yesterday that short ad texts will be required come May. So, for those of you who are only utilizing the long ad text option should go and begin evolving, or become extinct. Maybe it’s not that dramatic, but you know what I mean. [...]
23. Administrator | April 11th, 2007 at 9:24 am

Bob Gayle asks:

Regarding the number of characters, do spaces between words count as characters?

Good question, Bob. The short answer is ‘yes.’ Puncuation also counts, BTW, except for the ellipses that we include after at the nearest complete word to 70 characters.

Best,

-M2
24. Search Daily News »&hellip | April 11th, 2007 at 10:17 am

[...] Starting from May 2007, Yahoo! Search Marketing will require all advertisers to provide a short, 70-character description for their ads. [...]
25. MarketingVox: « Jet&hellip | April 11th, 2007 at 12:44 pm

[...] Posted by jetcity on January 21st, 2007 In an advisory on the Yahoo Search Marketing Blog, Yahoo has told advertisers they need to tighten up their ad copy. [...]
26. Kai | April 23rd, 2007 at 11:08 am

Will I get an error if I submit short ad descriptions that are over 70 characters long through the Panama API?
27. A scuola di advertising d&hellip | April 27th, 2007 at 11:16 pm

[...] A scuola di advertising da Yahoo! 28 04 2007 Su Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog è stato dato l’annuncio di un cambiamento di regole per la pubblicità sul motore di ricerca: da maggio gli investitori dovranno ridurre i caratteri dei propri annunci da 190 a 70. [...]
28. Top Ten Wholesale News Ro&hellip | April 30th, 2007 at 3:26 pm

[...] More details available at the Yahoo Search Marketing Blog. Google AdWords Pay-Per-Action Beta [...]
29. Ed | May 3rd, 2007 at 12:42 pm

Requiring the punctuation at the end is a mistake. It’s hard enough to fit the ad text into 70 characters without having one of them automatically be a period. I’m pretty sure that users could care less about the period.
30. Yahoo! Search Marketing B&hellip | May 10th, 2007 at 3:14 pm

[...] Last month we announced that, sometime this month, we would be requiring short descriptions on all new or modified Sponsored Search ads. Then, week before last, we reminded you that this change was coming. Yes, it was very thoughtful of us. [...]
31. Seo Mumbai » PPC We&hellip | May 23rd, 2007 at 5:18 pm

[...] YSM Blog confirm that short ad descriptions will be required from May, they also post an intro to finding your editorial [...]
32. Gordon | June 4th, 2007 at 5:48 am

I have tried to put adds on and when i preveiw this message comes up

The system has encountered the following error(s)
Exceeds the limit of 35 characters (including spaces).
how do i overcome this without changing my website name
33. Ranking Konzept - SEO New&hellip | June 12th, 2007 at 11:51 pm

[...] Mai gibt es bei Yahoo! Search Marketing neben der langen Beschreibung (maximal 190 Zeichen) die kurze mit 70 Zeichen. Ab 20. Juni, also in [...]
34. xhphdosqad | June 21st, 2007 at 11:21 am

Hello! Good Site! Thanks you! nhyghslghnr
35. Weekly Roundup, April 6, &hellip | July 10th, 2007 at 3:54 am

[...] More from Yahoo! on being short [...]
36. Top Ten Wholesale Newsroo&hellip | August 9th, 2007 at 11:43 am

[...] details available at the Yahoo Search Marketing Blog. Google AdWords Pay-Per-Action [...]
37. Tixier | August 10th, 2007 at 4:16 am

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38. This Week In SEO - 4/6/07&hellip | January 29th, 2008 at 10:28 pm

[...] Short Descriptions to be Required Starting in May [...]
39. youcant.be | February 19th, 2008 at 1:35 pm

Its just good manners to make things concise and presentable… but how have sound bytes helped politics?
40. Charles P. Fairchild | May 15th, 2008 at 4:39 pm

I do believe that it was neither Twain nor Pascal who said
I’m sorry this letter is so long, but I did not have time to make it shorter.

—Mark Twain or Blaise Pascal

Scholars differ about the source of the quote above. Some think Twain said it. Others think Pascal said it. It doesn’t matter, because either way, it’s spot-on. Writing concisely is harder and often more time-consuming than writing verbosely. But it’s also more effective. English teachers have been saying so for a century or more.

I believe it was Lord Chesterfield to his son. You might want to check it out.

Charles who unfortunately didn’t say it……….
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