Posts filed under 'Announcements'

Short Descriptions Now Live

Ad descriptions longer than 70 characters on Yahoo! in the U.S. will now be cut off

Starting today, ads that appear in U.S. Yahoo! Search results with descriptions longer than 70 characters will be cut off (”truncated”) at the nearest complete word, followed by an ellipsis. The optional 190-character long descriptions may still be displayed on some of our distribution partners’ sites.

If you have not amended your ads to include short descriptions, you’ll want to do so now. For more details and to learn how to add short descriptions, refer back to our previous posts, here, here and here.  

—Michael Mattis

Small is the New Big

Ultimate Connection final-list

Though they may never be mentioned by name on CNBC, small businesses have a huge impact. In fact, according to the Small Business Administration, a U.S. government agency, small businesses were responsible for more than half of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) of $11,712,500,000,000 in 2004.

That’s not chump change.

We like the kind of gutsy people who take a chance in small biz, because that’s how Yahoo! was born. Jerry Yang and David Filo originally started this little enterprise called Yahoo! Inc., now 13,000-odd (very odd) Yahoos strong, out of a trailer on the campus of Stanford University in Northern California.

The Big Five
Our passion for small businesses is one of the reasons that we got into the Small Business business to begin with—yes, we sell shovels to gold miners—and it’s one of the reasons we’re sponsoring the Ultimate Connection.

The five finalists for the Ultimate Connection have been chosen, and we want you to have a part in deciding the winners. Here are the five small businesspeople who stood out from the thousands of entries we received:

Glen Halliday, who builds custom “crooked houses” that make children smile.

Chris Pratt, a start-small entrepreneur with a big sweet tooth.

Melissa Belland, who has brought the fantasy world of the fairies to real life.

Elena Neitlich, who offers help for hard working moms, by hard working moms.

Mike Willner, an inventor who has taken typing to a whole new level.

Each one of these entrepreneurs shows a passion not just for the business of business, but for what their businesses share with their customers. Now it’s up to you to decide which three of these five will get the proverbial Golden Ticket to New York to meet with Ivanka Trump, enjoy a power lunch high above the city, and receive a $25,000 Yahoo! Search Marketing budget.

Go to the Ultimate Connection website and vote for your favorite.

—Michael Mattis

Just to Clarify: QBP

Quality-Based Pricing and Quality Index Score are not directly Related

Some advertisers appear to be under the impression that “quality-based pricing” is related to “quality index score.”

It’s easy to see how one could be confused, because they have similar-sounding names and are similar in concept, having to do with how we define “quality” for publishers and advertisers, respectively. In fact, quality-based pricing and the quality index score are not related. To clarify:

Quality-Based Pricing
The “quality” in “quality-based pricing” refers to the quality of traffic you receive from our partners and publishers. Depending on the relative performance (conversion rate and other factors) of the traffic from the partner or publisher site where the click came from, the cost of your click may be discounted. In a nutshell, quality-based pricing has nothing to do with your position in search rankings.

Quality Index Score
Your quality index score, on the other hand, reflects the performance (including click-through rate and other measures) of your ads, which does impact your position in search rankings.

With quality-based pricing, there is no action that advertisers need to take. It’s the responsibility of the partners or publishers (the ones displaying your ads) to help us provide you with quality traffic.

We apologize for any confusion.

—Michael Mattis

Short Descriptions to Go Live on Yahoo!

Descriptions to be 70 characters or fewer in the U.S.

Short descriptions (70 characters or fewer) have been required on all new or modified ads since May 16. Back then we told you that sometime in mid-June we’d begin cutting off ad descriptions longer than 70 characters sometime in mid-June. The date is now set at June 20.

To reiterate, beginning June 20, ads that appear in U.S. Yahoo! Search results with descriptions longer than 70 characters will be cut off (”truncated”) at the nearest complete word, followed by an ellipsis. The optional 190-character long descriptions may still be displayed on some our distribution partners.

 The example below shows how an ad may be truncated.  

To avoid this truncation, you’ll want to modify your ads now. Here’s how:

• 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.”

Be sure to follow our editorial guidelines, and take advantage of features like ad testing and the insert keyword tool.

For more details, visit the Help Center.

—Michael Mattis

Old News is Good News

Search marketing newsletters now archived in the Help Center

Loyal readers of On Target, our quarterly newsletter compiled and edited by Jeff Hecox, “the hardest working writer in search marketing,” have learned how to build brand awareness, what holiday shoppers want, how search and display ads can work together, and a lot more. 

But memory’s a tricky thing. Sometimes it’s hard to remember what you ate for breakfast, let alone what you read last month, especially amid the swirling sea of media noise in which we now live.

So in case you misplaced your last On Target, the one with the article you knew you wanted to read later but couldn’t remember what it was about, we’ve created an newsletter archive in the Help Center.

Now if you could only remember where you put down your bifocals.

—Michael Mattis

Quality-Based What?

Questions and Answers about Quality-Based Pricing

Overall, feedback on the launch of our new quality-based pricing model has been positive among advertisers. But there seems to be a perception in some quarters of the blogosphere that we launched QBP with the purpose of using the knowledge we gain about publisher conversion rates to raise prices on clicks from high-converting publishers.

Sorry to ruin the fun of a good conspiracy theory, but we really did launch QBP to help provide better ROI to advertisers—you guys and gals who are this company’s life blood. It’s not meant to raise the price of clicks. In fact, we are not increasing the amount you pay for traffic from high-quality sites, and you will never pay more than your maximum bid amount. You may pay less, but not more.

We’re trying, with our advertisers and our publishing partners, to encourage greater participation in our marketplace, and, in turn, provide even more relevant results to our end users.

I know; it’s not as much fun as the whole Snidely Whiplash, Area 51, conspiracy theory thing. But it’s the truth. It says so in our FAQs.

—Michael Mattis

Don’t Be Shy with that API

Yahoo! offers a new , open API program

Ah. APIs! These handy-dandy interfaces act as gateways to services that leverage Yahoo! technologies. Yahoo! offers APIs of all kinds to go with our wide range of web services and technologies. We have developed APIs for Flickr, Yahoo! Maps, Music, Search and lots of others. Yahoo! Developer Network even has its own gallery where app hackers can show off their mad skills and share their mash-ups with the world.

Now, Yahoo! Search Marketing is offering a new Commercial API program, which provides free and open access to our APIs, as well as offers optional fee-based services, including higher level technical support, product roadmap visibility, and joint-marketing opportunities. Designed for commercial entities such as technology application providers, search engine marketers, or agencies, the Yahoo! Commercial API program allows you to leverage our new search advertising technology (i.e., the new “Panama” system) to build your own innovative search marketing tools and apps.

The best part of the new program is that it offers, gratis, access to our search marketing APIs. Businesses with greater support needs can opt-in to fee-based services if they choose. The program offers three tiers:

Basic
Designed for the little guy in mind, the basic level offers free access to the new search advertising system and technical support, and leverages the Yahoo! commercial brand to develop and launch applications in the market. This tier is free.

Advanced
The advanced level, designed for fast growing technology companies and mid-size advertising agencies, provides access to the new search advertising system, plus dedicated technical account management support, service level commitments and listings in our partner application directory.

Elite
Designed for large tech corps and big-time ad agencies, Elite includes a business review, product council roadmap coordination and joint marketing activities. Companies like Efficient Frontier, Omniture, Search Ignite and The Search Agency have already opted-in.

To give just two examples of how companies are using Yahoo! Search Marketing APIs, Efficient Frontier has built a specialized portfolio optimization tool, while Omniture has built an advanced analytics gizmo that shows how one keyword search influences another. There’s almost no limit to what creative engineers and developers can dream up and implement given access to these APIs and proper technical support.

To learn more about this new Commercial API program, visit: http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/api

—Michael Mattis

A New Pricing Model Rolls Out Today

Your Click Charges to be Based on Quality of Traffic

Yahoo! Search Marketing is rolling out a new feature that we think will help enhance the quality, potentially reduce the cost and increase the value of traffic to you, our advertisers. It’s called quality-based pricing, and it measures the quality of traffic coming from our distribution partners—that is, the web publishers large and small that display your ads.  

Previously, you were charged the same for traffic from all web sites within our distribution network. Now, with quality-based pricing, you may be charged less for certain clicks than you otherwise would pay, depending on the overall quality of the traffic provided by our distribution partners. As a result, your click charges can decrease.

“Quality” is calculated based on conversion rates and other measurements of the ability of our partners’ sites to deliver more interested, valuable customers to you.

What do you need to do? Nothing that you aren’t already doing now. With quality-based pricing, the system does all the work. Your click charges may be discounted based on the quality of traffic you receive.  Please note that some may experience a noticeable decrease in overall cost-per-click, while others may experience only a small decrease in spend.
For more info, please visit our FAQs.

—Michael Mattis

New Analytics, Calendar Features

The further adventures of the Starship “Panama”

When I said before that it’s a busy time for Yahoo Search Marketing I wasn’t kidding. The updates and enhancements are coming fast and furious. And we’re just gettin’ started.

Assist Assistance
First up, we’re offering a new feature, Conversion Analytics to help you track your conversion assists. Conversions, you’ll recall, are noted in a column on your dashboard and in your various reports. A “conversion” occurs when an action you value, such as a purchase, registration, or sign-up, is completed by a user. A conversion assist occurs when a keyword has contributed to a conversion that was credited to a different keyword.

Let’s say that a user came to your Sci-Fi collectibles site and bought a “tribble” plush toy. He or she might actually have been searching on “United Federation of Planets” or “quadro-triticalé”—the genetically engineered grain that everyone knows tribbles love to munch. The user might have viewed the ad with the keyword, “United Federation of Planets” first, then later viewed the ad with the keyword, “quadro-triticalé” and then finally converted on the ad displaying the keyword, “tribble.” The system records this trail of clicks, or “lead events,” crediting both “United Federation of Planets” and “quadro-triticalé” with an assist and “tribble” with the conversion. This way you’ll know that your keywords are leading to conversions, even if the relationship is not a direct one.

The system will show up to 30 lead events per conversion over 45 days. Please note lead events will only be recorded when the user has cookies enabled.

Conversion assists are shown on your Campaigns pages, in a new column next to “Conversions,” as well as in your various reports—basically everywhere you see “Conversions” and other advanced analytics data.

Note that you must have conversion tags installed on your site in order to take advantage of this new feature. You can get these tags, and instructions on how to install them, here.

For more info, visit our Help Section.

Save the Date
We’ve also updated the calendar function to provide performance data for both custom and pre-selected date ranges in an easier-to-read format.

Short Descriptions Rolling Out today
Lastly, as we announced last week, we begin rolling out the short description requirement across the network today. That means that, starting today, all new or modified ads must include a short description (70 characters or fewer). Note that if a short description is not provided by late-June 2007—exact date to be determined—we’ll automatically cut off your ad description at the nearest complete word before 70 characters followed by an ellipsis, when it is displayed on Yahoo!

We believe that tighter, more concise ads perform better and can help improve your ads quality score in the long run. So we think it is well worth the effort.

Expect more updates and enhancements at warp speed.

—Michael Mattis

Time to Add Shortening

Short Descriptions Required Beginning Wednesday, May 16

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.

A few of you asked the obvious question, however: “So, um, when in May will these short descriptions be required?”

And here we thought we were being all suspenseful and stuff! Well, in answer to your query, this is a “rolling launch.” The short description requirement may take effect on your account as early as Wednesday, May 16, 2007.

Mark your calendars.

Note that if a short description is not provided by late June 2007—exact date to be determined—we’ll automatically cut off your ad description at the nearest complete word followed by an ellipsis, when it is displayed on Yahoo! This may impact your ad quality and, potentially, your position in search results.

A few items to bear in mind:

• Titles will continue to have a maximum of 40 characters
• Short descriptions are now required when creating or modifying an ad. Short descriptions must be 70 characters or less
• Display URLs must be 35 characters or less

—The Team

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