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March 11th, 2010
Questions about the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance
Advertisers and agencies have questions; we have answers
A few weeks ago, we announced U.S. and E.U clearance for the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance. This was, naturally, big news in the search marketing world. That post garnered some 60 comments from our engaged advertising and agency customers. Most of these comments were positive.
Understandably, some of you had questions and concerns about your accounts. But the most important fact for you to know regarding the search alliance is that, as noted in our FAQ’s:
We will begin with the algorithmic search transition, with a goal of completing transition of at least the U.S. market by the end of 2010. We also hope to make significant progress transitioning U.S. advertisers and publishers in 2010 prior to the crucial holiday season, but may wait until 2011 if we determine that the transition will be more effective after the holiday season. All global customers and partners are expected to be transitioned by early 2012.
What do I do now?
This naturally invokes the question, “So what do I, as an advertiser, need to do in the meantime?” The short answer is “nothing.” Keep on doing what you’re doing. During this time, we’ll continue innovating and we’ll ping you when routine updates and enhancements are made available—just as we do now. When the time comes to transition your account to Microsoft adCenter, you’ll be informed about what you’ll need to do, with instructions on how to do it.
What about all of Yahoo’s bells and whistles?
Several of you asked, in short, if all the bells and whistles that you have come to expect from Yahoo! will be ported over to your future Microsoft adCenter account—things like negative keywords, character length of ads, and so forth. Our answer:
As you might expect, Yahoo!’s Sponsored Search platform and Microsoft’s adCenter platform are not identical, but they offer many similar features, tools and reports. Before any advertiser transitions begin, Yahoo! and Microsoft will work together so that our advertisers have a high-quality product that is as familiar as possible and easy to use.
Finally, here are answers to some of your very specific questions:
Nick Gowdy asks: Are we still going to be able to choose the networks on which we advertise? E.g. Yahoo! Search, Bing Search, Yahoo! Search Partners, Bing Search Partners, etc.
Answer: Once Yahoo! Sponsored Search advertisers are transitioned to Microsoft’s search platforms, advertisers will not be permitted to select traffic solely from Bing or solely from Yahoo!
Avromie asks: Anybody know what will happen with SearchMonkey results?
Answer: Yahoo! and Microsoft are sharing ideas for how to advance the SearchMonkey vision of building an ecosystem for developers, publishers, and the semantic web. The landscape is complex, so we’re working hard to determine which path provides the best value for site owners and end users.
SEM All Stars asks: I use YWA (Yahoo! Web Analytics). Is that still going to work?
Answer: Yahoo! and Microsoft plan to provide high-quality, competitive search analytics, but the details are still being determined. As transition plans are established, we will communicate more detail about what you can expect in terms of analytics tools.
Jo asks: Why not give people the choice—those who want to switch can, but those who want to stay with YSM should be able to have that option as well. Is this possible?
Answer: Sorry, no: All Sponsored Search advertisers will use the adCenter platform for their paid search campaigns following their transition, and the “Panama” system will no longer be available. The post-transition unified search marketplace will provide numerous benefits to advertisers, including increased volume, greater ease of doing business, and increased innovation.
Brett West asks: When the alliance takes effect, will it be necessary to maintain advertising accounts with both Yahoo! and Bing/Microsoft or will they be merged somehow?
Answer: Approximately three months in advance, advertisers will receive multiple communications from Yahoo! and Microsoft that will provide details on what to expect during the transition process. When the transition date arrives, Yahoo! and Microsoft will work together to transition your account to the adCenter platform. You will have flexibility to keep your existing adCenter accounts or create new accounts for the unified search marketplace.
Was your question not answered?
As the agreement between Yahoo! and Microsoft only recently received regulatory clearance, we have not had the opportunity to fully discuss every one of your questions with Microsoft and make a determination on each. But we will certainly provide more details to both agencies and advertisers before the transition occurs. Stay tuned.
For more, visit the Yahoo! Transition Center.
— The Team
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17 Comments Add your own
1. SearchCap: The Day In Sea&hellip | March 11th, 2010 at 2:04 pm
[...] Questions about the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance, Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog [...]
2. Denver Basement Remodeling | March 12th, 2010 at 8:26 am
Really interested in seeing how this merger affects the PPC platform. I think there are some pros and cons for both systems, so hopefully the new merger will take advantage of all the positives of both Yahoo and MSN.
best of luck!
3. Ad News and Views from Ar&hellip | March 17th, 2010 at 1:16 pm
[...] you’ve no doubt heard about the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search alliance. There have been a lot of questions about it, naturally. But it looks like we’ve chosen a good ally. Microsoft’s Bing showed a 15 percent [...]
4. Ad News and Views from Ar&hellip | March 23rd, 2010 at 7:33 pm
[...] you’ve no doubt heard about the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search alliance. There have been a lot of questions about it, naturally. But it looks like we’ve chosen a good ally. Microsoft’s Bing showed a 15 percent [...]
5. Edd | April 27th, 2010 at 6:20 am
Hi,
Will we be able to use ‘Block Domains’ as you can on Yahoo!’s Sponsored Search?
Will the ‘Ad Delivery Report’ be available on the adCenter platform?
Regards
Edd
6. Matthew Henry | April 27th, 2010 at 6:21 am
Just going on record here to say that I don’t like any of this. As of now, I am contemplating cancelling my ad campaign on Yahoo Search because of your horrible search service with my websites. On Google and Bing, search results for my websites rank very high. Additionally, my ads are also ranked very high. However, with Yahoo, I’m nearly invisible and a very small amount of traffic is logged from Yahoo Search. My work is very relevant when searching the terms; lodge signs, cabin signs and camp signs. Yahoo has truly fallen from grace.
Thank you.
Matthew Henry
http://www.LodgeandCabinSigns.com
http://www.ClassicHouseSigns.com
7. Matthew Henry | April 27th, 2010 at 6:22 am
Just going on record here to say that I don’t like any of this. As of now, I am contemplating cancelling my ad campaign on Yahoo Search because of your horrible search service with my websites. On Google and Bing, search results for my websites rank very high. Additionally, my ads are also ranked very high. However, with Yahoo, I’m nearly invisible and a very small amount of traffic is logged from Yahoo Search. My work is very relevant when searching the terms; lodge signs, cabin signs and camp signs. Yahoo has truly fallen from grace.
Thank you.
Matthew Henry
http://www.LodgeandCabinSigns.com
http://www.ClassicHouseSigns.com
8. Steve | April 27th, 2010 at 6:27 am
I have duplicate ads on Yahoo and MSN – What will happen at the merge?
9. Volvo Parts | April 27th, 2010 at 6:48 am
Is Yahoo organic results also changing to Bing?
10. Ibnu | April 27th, 2010 at 7:04 am
So, what will happen to YSM, closed permanently?!
11. promo | April 27th, 2010 at 7:48 am
I’ve been in a deep depress from adwords for a long time and would like to let google know that there are some more big giants out there that will make it fall or inferior. I love yahoo and their support. I’m on your side Yahoo, whatever it takes just let google feel the pain and lastly, when and if you’re comparable and/or bigger than google, don’t be like it
12. The Gambler | April 27th, 2010 at 9:52 am
I run a Apple/Mac based business. In the past, when using the MSN AdCenter platform, if ever I had a customer service issue, There was no way for me to use the web-based support form. I would type up my issue and send it, but I would get an error message on the screen. My request would never make it through to the customer service department.
Please resolve this pesky problem.
Thanx.
AJC the Horse Man
13. Harry Lennard | April 27th, 2010 at 11:43 am
MSN AdCenter platform has some real drawbacks, like:
1. You can only ads six accounts to a user name, and
2. You can only use a credit card for three accounts.
Will these limitations exist in the new platform?
14. Mathews | April 27th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
I learned a lot here from the comments and article. But can someone help me to actually learn how to optimize my ppc campaigns for more sales with low spending?
15. hostgator | April 28th, 2010 at 11:30 am
It will certainly be interesting in how this develops… I think in the longrun it will be good for all users
16. A lire dans la blogosphè&hellip | April 29th, 2010 at 3:54 am
[...] Alliance Yahoo! – Microsoft. Une interview en vidéo du VP Yahoo! Search Advertising (David Pann) expliquant ce que l’accord va changer pour les internautes, les annonceurs et les éditeurs – Ysmblog. Dans la même idée, questions / réponses sur le sujet – Ysmblog [...]
17. Josiah Russell | May 6th, 2010 at 11:47 am
It is interesting to compare the performance of Bing and Google search but i haven’t seen any difference at all in their performance..*
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