Getting Results Through Search, Pronto

How Yahoo’s enhanced pricing structure helped make Pronto’s digital advertising more efficient

Shopping comparison network Pronto Inc. realized a dynamic drop in CPCs and increased ROI with Yahoo!’s enhanced pricing structure. This enhancement, combined with optimization advice from a Yahoo! representative, helped Pronto to increase its overall ROI without increasing spend.

The Challenge
Pronto Inc., a comparison shopping network whose key sites include Pronto.com, ProntoStyle.com, ProntoHome.com and ProntoTech.com, wanted to increase the efficiency of its digital advertising, reaching more customers online without increasing its overall digital advertising spend. The company has more than ten million keywords across its four key web properties. “In one of the most competitive marketplaces, online shopping comparison, we needed to increase our advertising efficiency,” says Darren MacDonald, Pronto’s Vice President of Search Marketing Operations. “And we wanted Yahoo!, with its huge audience, to help show us the way.”

The Solution
In this highly competitive niche, keeping down cost-perclick (CPC)—the price advertisers pay for each qualified click—is vital. To help make it easier for advertisers to find more targeted customers, improve their search advertising performance, and keep CPCs down, Yahoo! unveiled a new pricing structure in 2009 that allowed advertisers to better align what they pay to the value of clicks they receive. The enhancement, combined with the optimization tips provided by a Yahoo! representative, allowed Pronto to advertise more efficiently withoutincreasing overall digital ad spend.

The Results
Taking advantage of the dynamic pricing enhancement, Pronto experienced a significant decrease in CPC across its four Web properties. This in turn allowed the company to re-invest in its bidded keywords, raising overall return on investment (ROI), without increasing its overall advertising budget.

“Our CPCs dropped ten to fifteen percent toward the end of Q4, which allowed us to increase our bids,” says Pronto’s MacDonald. “This combined with the roll-out of our new microsites, increased our ROI between five and eight percent.”

With more than ten million bidded keywords, a few percentage points improvement in ROI made all the difference. In addition to enhanced pricing, Yahoo! gave Pronto access to a vast network of engaged users and billions of monthly searches.

”We’re very happy with the performance gains that the enhanced pricing structure helped us get,” says MacDonald. “And our Yahoo! representative worked diligently to help us optimize our results.”

About Yahoo! Enhanced Pricing: Yahoo’s enhanced pricing structure allows advertisers to better align what they pay to the value of clicks they receive. Adjustments are made to click charges based on traffic performance from across the Yahoo! network. These include discounts on click charges for lower performing traffic, and potential premiums on click charges for higher performing traffic. Pricing adjustments are based on the performance of the traffic source, and are not affected by the quality of the ads.

About Pronto Inc: Pronto Inc. is a leading shopping comparison network offering more than 70 million products on its collection of sites. Across Pronto.com, ProntoStyle.com, ProntoTech.com and ProntoHome.com consumers can find premium brands at competitive prices. Developed by IAC/InterActiveCorp (IAC) and launched in 2006, Pronto.com and its network of sites is one of the top 100 most trafficked US properties.

— The Team