Sponsored Ads in Filtered Search Results

What the new feature in the Yahoo! Search results page means to advertisers

We unveiled the new and improved Yahoo! search results page last month, which gives users more control over the results they see. One of the key features that was added lets users filter results by website; and starting today, your Sponsored Search ad can appear for those more relevant search results.

On our new search page, if a searcher types in a phrase such as “buy pink floyd”, he can further refine his search results by clicking on links on the left-hand side of the page, which include sites that users often find useful. If the user clicks on one of the suggested sites, he’ll get a smaller set of results from that domain only.

Now, if the user selects a site that is also a Sponsored Search advertiser, that advertiser’s ad should still be displayed in the new set of results. For example:

The user types “buy pink floyd” in a search box.
A set of results is displayed, containing both web listings and multiple paid ads.
The searcher clicks on “Amazon.com” in the left-hand column to filter the results.
The results page resets, and now displays web and paid results from Amazon.com only.

As always, you’ll only pay if the user clicks on your ad, and the single ad that may be displayed in filtered results will be selected based on its relevancy to the search query.

What does this mean for advertisers?
All advertisers will still get the same chances at clicks before any filtering takes place. But those advertisers whose sites show up as a filtering option will get further opportunities for clicks when their ad shows up in the narrowed results—without any competing ads. And the ads may be more relevant to consumers, as our systems take the user’s choice into account.

(FYI, the domains our system uses to filter results are chosen based on a number of factors, such as their listings’ quality, popularity and user response.)

The filtering option, along with the other cool features added to Yahoo! Search last month, is designed to increase relevancy and user control of the search experience. And when results are more relevant to consumers, that can translate to a better return for advertisers.

— Jeff Hecox

Posted by Administrator

[ Categories: Updates & Enhancements, Yahoo! News ]

29 Comments Add your own

1. Irlandiani | October 9th, 2009 at 12:08 am

This doesn’t seem to be the case in the UK where the relevant website ads disappear when you filter for that brand.
2. Yahoo Search Ads Now Filt&hellip | October 9th, 2009 at 5:51 am

[...] 9, 2009 at 9:51am ET by Barry Schwartz The Yahoo Search Marketing Blog announced the search ads displayed on Yahoo Search are now filtered based on the filtered sites you select on [...]
3. Yahoo! display ’spo&hellip | October 9th, 2009 at 7:29 am

[...] am Yahoo! display ’sponsored search ads’ based on filtered sites Yahoo! now allows users filter results by website; and sponsored search ad appear based on those [...]
4. Yahoo Adds Paid Search Li&hellip | October 9th, 2009 at 10:17 am

[...] on one of the suggested sites, he’ll get a smaller set of results from that domain only,” explains Yahoo’s Jeff Hecox. “Now, if the user selects a site that is also a Sponsored Search advertiser, that [...]
5. Administrator | October 9th, 2009 at 12:41 pm

Irlandiani, the ads are currently displaying in the US only, but you should be seeing ads later this month in the UK.
6. Yahoo Now Filters Ads in &hellip | October 9th, 2009 at 1:15 pm

[...] Beginning today, if a user elects to filter results by a site, and that site is also an advertiser on a relevant keyword, the user will see both organic search results from that site, and ads from that site — without competitors’ ads, Jeff Hecox, client communications manager, writes in a blog post to the Yahoo Search Marketing blog. [...]
7. Yahoo! Search Filters Now&hellip | October 9th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

[...] a search on Yahoo! and use one of the filters on the left hand side to narrow your search, you may now see Sponsored Ads. The ads will appear on filtered results for selected sites who are also Yahoo! advertisers. [...]
8. Yahoo Now Filters Ads in &hellip | October 9th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

[...] Beginning today, if a user elects to filter results by a site, and that site is also an advertiser on a relevant keyword, the user will see both organic search results from that site, and ads from that site — without competitors’ ads, Jeff Hecox, client communications manager, writes in a blog post to the Yahoo Search Marketing blog. [...]
9. Yahoo! Search Filters Now&hellip | October 9th, 2009 at 3:42 pm

[...] a search on Yahoo! and use one of the filters on the left hand side to narrow your search, you may now see Sponsored Ads. The ads will appear on filtered results for selected sites who are also Yahoo! advertisers. [...]
10. Yahoo Adds Paid Search Li&hellip | October 9th, 2009 at 5:20 pm

[...] one of the suggested sites, he’ll get a smaller set of results from that domain only," explains Yahoo’s Jeff Hecox. "Now, if the user selects a site that is also a Sponsored Search advertiser, that [...]
11. Yahoo! Search Filters Now&hellip | October 10th, 2009 at 7:16 am

[...] a search on Yahoo! and use one of the filters on the left hand side to narrow your search, you may now see Sponsored Ads. The ads will appear on filtered results for selected sites who are also Yahoo! advertisers. [...]
12. Yahoo! Search Filters Now&hellip | October 10th, 2009 at 11:03 pm

[...] a search on Yahoo! and use one of the filters on the left hand side to narrow your search, you may now see Sponsored Ads. The ads will appear on filtered results for selected sites who are also Yahoo! advertisers. [...]
13. Yahoo! Search Filters Now&hellip | October 11th, 2009 at 1:01 am

[...] a search on Yahoo! and use one of the filters on the left hand side to narrow your search, you may now see Sponsored Ads. The ads will appear on filtered results for selected sites who are also Yahoo! advertisers. [...]
14. Yahoo Adds Paid Search Li&hellip | October 11th, 2009 at 1:02 am

[...] one of the suggested sites, he’ll get a smaller set of results from that domain only," explains Yahoo’s Jeff Hecox. "Now, if the user selects a site that is also a Sponsored Search advertiser, that [...]
15. Yahoo Adds Paid Search Li&hellip | October 11th, 2009 at 9:04 am

[...] on one of the suggested sites, he’ll get a smaller set of results from that domain only,” explains Yahoo’s Jeff Hecox. “Now, if the user selects a site that is also a Sponsored Search advertiser, that [...]
16. Paid Listings in Yahoo Fi&hellip | October 11th, 2009 at 10:53 pm

[...] has given more opportunities to Advertisers the facility to have their ads shown in the yahoo filtered search results. All ads will be relevant to the [...]
17. Yahoo! Search Marketing B&hellip | October 14th, 2009 at 8:45 am

[...] happening in the market now. Of course, we launched one of those innovations last week (see: Sponsored Ads in Filtered Search Results), but you can get ClickZ’s take on it here. For more Yahoo! innovations, see Product Pulse over [...]
18. Gary Fox Plumbing and Heating | October 14th, 2009 at 1:23 pm

I tired using http://www.seattleplumbingandheating.com
http://www.tacomaplumbingandheating.com
http://www.garyfoxplumbing.com

For the yahoo marketing

a search on Yahoo! and use one of the filters on the left hand side to narrow your search, you may now see Sponsored Ads. The ads will appear on filtered results for selected sites who are also Yahoo! advertisers
19. Search Advertising News f&hellip | October 16th, 2009 at 2:38 pm

[...] happening in the market now. Of course, we launched one of those innovations last week (see: Sponsored Ads in Filtered Search Results), but you can get ClickZ’s take on it here. For more Yahoo! innovations, see Product Pulse over [...]
20. ANTiRussia | October 23rd, 2009 at 7:14 pm

search engine improving is always good
21. Scottie | October 28th, 2009 at 1:57 pm

I’m all for positive changes but please do not forget about the advertiser in which Yahoo comes with their own form of Google Slap. Yahoo and MSN are both so appealing because the process to post ads is so simple and effective. Please Yahoo, continue to be easy and simple. If I’m spending thousands of dollars a day on advertising, I want ease of use and the option to easily reach many customers without worrying about too many restrictions.

Scottie from Toronto
22. Jeremy | October 29th, 2009 at 4:48 am

I’m with Scottie. To elaborate, when you add all of these additional features on the search-end and provide no reporting on the back-end it makes analysis of the program (ie; keyword, ad groups, campaigns) nearly impossible. How are we to know true (or even relatively true) efficiency/effectiveness when our ad could be showing by itself (filtered) or as usual (unfiltered)?

I realize the need for innovation, but why not stick with what seems to work accross all engines? To put it bluntly, I (we) advertise on Yahoo for the differing customer demographic, not usibility. So please, don’t convelute your search process any more than it already is.. with so many ‘unknowns’ behind the yahoo data it makes analysis very difficult (if not impossible).
23. Dani | October 29th, 2009 at 5:39 am

And the big get bigger. This so-called filter is slighted toward the benefit of large corporation retailers. Whatever product I search for now gets an even greater chance to go to Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc. Kudos to Yahoo for killing competition!
24. San Diego Golf | October 29th, 2009 at 1:17 pm

I think this is a good thing for Yahoo to implement and I’m hoping that this equates to more opportunities to show up in search, especially with more targeted results. Looking forward to seeing the results of this change.
25. Larry LaFata | October 30th, 2009 at 8:14 am

Theoretically, this gives an advitiser a second chance to be even more relevant for a search term.

I’d be interested to know if only the top ranked advertisers are shown on second page.
26. The Unit | November 1st, 2009 at 12:52 pm

Great info.
27. robseo | November 2nd, 2009 at 4:19 am

Paid search marketing, which is also called search engine marketing or SEM is a way of marketing using the internet. Paid search marketing or SEM is a very effective way to promote websites by increasing their visibility on the search list which is displayed by the search engine.
28. assisted living retirement homes | November 6th, 2009 at 1:06 am

pretty cool addition to the Yahoo search arsenal.
29. Anthony "mobile marketing" Wayne | December 15th, 2009 at 9:02 pm

For a long time now, surfers, especially younger ones, have clicked on organic ads as they don’t want to be “sold.” Now, paid ads will have equal billing. I wonder if this will also hold for Yahoo’s mobile search product?

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