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Role-play

An intro to Project Panama’s role-assignment features

Oh, to be a kid again!

In our childhood we often took on and quickly shed roles like “mother” and “father” for a harmless game of “House,” or titled ourselves “cashier” for a friendly game of “Store.” Some of us went so far as to be the bad guy in an action-packed “Cops and Robbers” pretend shoot-out.

Human beings engage in role-play from a very young age. But even in our adult lives, it becomes necessary to take on roles, as well as quickly drop them, if only to ensure that a job gets done.

We understand your need to assign account access and rights to others in your organization, and the new “Project Panama” system offers different levels of access that you can control. In smaller organizations, where it takes only a shout across the room to find out if a colleague is logged in to your account, it may be acceptable to have more than one person with Administrator rights.

In a larger organization, you may have several people who manage your Yahoo! accounts, but only one or two people with the rights to manage other users. Further designations may be made for users who only manage at a campaign level and do not require the ability to manage account settings, as well as for users who just want to view account data, but do not require any editing abilities.

Administrators have full rights to a Yahoo! Search Marketing account, with the ability to specify roles of additional users. You may assign roles in your search marketing account by doing the following:

• Click the Administration tab.
• Click on the Accounts link.
• If you have more than one account, identify the account and click its link. The Account Summary page opens.
• Click the Edit button in the User Administration panel. The Account Users page opens.
• Click the Add a User from Another Account link. The Select Users from Other Accounts page opens.
• Sort by first name or last name as needed to find the user in the table.
• Assign users to the account by specifying an account role for the user.
• Select “None” if you do not want the user to have access to the account.
• Click Save Changes.
• If you have one account, Click on the Master Account Users link to view a list of existing users.
• Click on a link in the “Username” column to control account access, edit roles, and reset the password for an existing user.
• Click on Add a Master Account User to display a form for creating a new user.
• Enter a username, the user’s full name and an e-mail address for the user (this e-mail address will be used to send the new user his or her log-in information). User status automatically defaults to “Active” for new users.
• Select the radio button for “Administrator” if you would like the user to have full access to the account.
• Select the “Non-Administrator” radio button if you would like to assign specific access to the user.
  Click Save Changes.

The following outlines each role and its associated rights:

Role: Administrator

Rights: Full master account access, including all accounts within it.

Role: Account Manager

Rights: Full account access with administrative editing rights, but without the ability to manage settings for the master account

Role: Campaign Manager

Rights: Full account access without administrative editing rights

Role: Analyst

Rights: Account viewing access without any editing rights

Remember to save your changes or click “Cancel” if you do not want any of your changes to take effect.

—Stephanie Bilberry, Yahoo! Search Marketing Writer

Finding Your Account ID

We’ve got your number

A few of you have contacted our Customer Solutions team recently to ask where you can retrieve your account ID number(s).

If you have a single account, after you log in, simply click on the “Administration” tab; your account ID appears on the top line under “Account General Information.”

If you have more than one account, you can also view your account IDs under the “Dashboard” tab, as well as under the Administration tab. On the Dashboard page, you’ll see a drop-down menu just above the alerts box. Here, you can toggle between accounts. Each account’s individual number is shown next to the account name.

—The Team

Holiday Hours

Phone support closed Christmas and New Year’s Days

It’s time to celebrate. So in observance of the upcoming holidays, Yahoo! Search Marketing’s customer support department will be closed on Monday, Dec. 25 and Monday, Jan. 1.

Please enjoy yourselves and stay safe.

—Yahoo! Customer Support

Happy Chanukah

Yahoo! offers a turn of the dreidel for the Festival of Lights

As the calendar year quietly draws to its close, people naturally turn to friends and family to help them celebrate their successes of the past year and help prepare them for the challenges to come—and in the process eat, drink and laugh a lot.

Today is the first day of Chanukah. Over the next eight days, families will gather to light candles, exchange gifts, munch tasty nosh and offer blessings. All of us at Yahoo! Search Marketing and Yahoo! Publisher Network would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Chanukah.

—The Team

Question: Whose Birthday Is It?

Yahoo! Answers turns one

At one, most human babies are hardly walking, let alone answering difficult questions. But our one-year-old, Yahoo! Answers

Yahoo! Answers taps into the need that people feel to connect with others through social media, to share knowledge and get their questions answered—in a sense, to personalize the online world. It’s a huge trend, according to a recent Harris Interactive survey. The survey says that fully a third of all adults online have used a Q&A site of one kind or another, and more than half of those say that the information they have gleaned has influenced a decision they made. Check out this press release on the study

Web publishers, online retailers and the like may be able benefit from putting a Yahoo! Answers badge on their site and by becoming active members of the Answers community, such as SmallBizResource.com has done. By using the badge and answering questions, web publishers can help grow their reputations as “gurus” in their fields, gaining user trust and helping drive traffic. For example, if you have a site that deals in, say, Apples and Oranges, it’s easy to put a badge on your site that allows people to ask questions—which you can then answer—about those tasty fruits.

For more info on how you can use Yahoo! Answers on your own web pages, go to the Answers Web Services page on Yahoo! Developer Network.

Happy Birthday, Answers team. Now blow out your candle.

–Michael Mattis

Got Questions About Your Upgrade?

We’ve got answers

They say there’s no such thing as a stupid question. While it would be hip and edgy to argue with that statement, we can’t. And we can’t because it’s true.

With that in mind, here are some of the most pressing questions we have been receiving about the upgrade:

Q: What will I see when I log in to my new account?

A: The short answer is “a lot.” For starters the first thing you see when you log in to the new Sponsored Search is the “dashboard”

This will give you a summary of your account activity including:

Alerts
Receive important notifications related to your campaigns, editorial issues, billing and payments.

Performance and Account Summary
This allows you to view graphs and key metrics for a snapshot of your account performance.

Top and Watched Campaigns
Easily access and review your top campaigns, ad groups and keywords using the “watched” list on your dashboard.

Create Campaigns
Create new campaigns right from the first page of your account.

The shortest way to get a sneak preview to all that you’ll see is to check out our Flash tutorial, Navigating Your New Account.  You can also get an overview of the new Sponsored Search at the help center.

Q: What can I expect from the new Sponsored Search?

A: Again, the short answer is “a lot.” To get you familiarized with your account upgrade, all the changes to your account structure, how your account listings will be transferred into the new system, and finding your account information after the upgrade, we’ve created an Account Upgrade tutorial, also in Flash.

Q: Is there a resource where I get all of this information at a glance, without having to view a multimedia presentation?

A: Sure.  Please visit the Upgrade Center for all of the key info you need for the upgrade can be found here; access to help, tutorials, blog updates and more.  At an easy to remember URL—newsponsoredsearch.yahoo.com

Q: Once I upgrade, can I still log into my old account?

A: Yes, you will still be able to access your “old” Sponsored Search account here, where you can access reports containing account data accumulated prior to your upgrade date, as well as download your listings (as they stood when you upgraded) to a spreadsheet or text file.

Q: When will my account be upgraded?

A: The upgrading of advertisers to the new Sponsored Search began in October. Advertisers are being upgraded in waves over the rest of 2006 and the first part of 2007. You will receive your individual upgrade date via email at least one week in advance.  Want it now?  Request an early upgrade. 

Q: Will it cost me anything to upgrade my account?

A: Nope! There is absolutely no cost associated with the upgrade of your account.

Q: I have multiple accounts. Can I upgrade all my accounts at the same time?

A: No, at this time we are not able to guarantee the grouping of multiple accounts from the same advertiser in a single upgrade time. However, to help accommodate your needs, you have the option of requesting an early upgrade of your account.  If you have multiple account that you would like upgrade together please make this request via email to Reservation-desk(at)yahoo-inc.com with the account numbers. If you are invited to upgrade before the end of the year, you have the option to defer it until after the holiday season to avoid any disruptions to your business and advertising during this important time.

Q: Once I upgrade, can I access historical data from my old account?

A: Yes, you will be able to access your historical information for at least six months from the date of your upgrade from your “old” Sponsored Search account. Check your old account here.

Q: What do I need to do the first time I log in to my newly upgrade account? 

A: The quick start guide is a must read for the first time you log in to your upgraded account—be sure to print out a copy for reference. And to help ease the transition and make sure that you know where to find all of the “stuff” in the new system

In addition, we offer many more FAQs and lots of other helpful facts in our Upgrade Center.

Have any more questions? Feel free to post them in the comments!

—The Team

Smoothing Your Upgrade

Follow these tips to achieve new Sponsored Search nirvana

Last week, we talked about how to “be prepared” for the new Sponsored Search. Today, as promised, we offer ten tips you’ll want to act on to help ensure that your transition is successful before and during your upgrade.

Before Your Upgrade
1. Make sure all of your contact information is up-to-date.
Two important reasons for this: First, you will receive important upgrade news and information before your upgrade via email, regular mail and/or phone. Second, the location entered in your billing contact information will determine the time zone in which your report data is displayed, and this cannot be changed after you are upgraded. So please be sure we have your correct billing contact info, so that you are fully informed and are seeing data with the right time displayed.

2. Be on the lookout for an email with your individual upgrade date.
We’ve begun the process of upgrading U.S. advertisers to the new advertising platform. Invitations to upgrade will continue to be sent in stages to U.S. advertisers over the remainder of the year and early next year. Your upgrade date will be provided to you at least two weeks in advance via email and regular mail. At least one week before your upgrade date, an “Upgrade Preview” link will appear within your current account that will take you to a clickable, read-only preview of what your account will look like after the upgrade. That’s right, you’ll get to actually see what your upgraded account will look like before the upgrade happens.

3. Download your current listings.
You should download all of your listings as they currently appear in your account to a spreadsheet to retain a record of them for future reference.

4. Categorize your ads in your current account.
Today’s “categories” will be tomorrow’s “campaigns,” so please make sure your categories are…er, categorized appropriately. Consider creating categories for listings related to: a specific product or service; a particular marketing goal; a seasonal or time-sensitive promotion; or a group of listings you manage closely. Remember though, you are limited to a total of 20 campaigns per account.

5. Check the Upgrade Center regularly.
Make sure to continue to check the Upgrade Center for the most up-to-date info on the upgrade. In both, you will find links to an extensive Help Center, tutorials, this blog and much more.

6. Check the editorial status page right before your upgrade.
Since pending listings will not be transferred to your new account, you’ll want to make note of any pending listings that you may want to resubmit after your account has been upgraded.

Once Your Preview is Available
7. Log into your current account.
You’ll get notification in your current account, as well as via email, of your opportunity to preview your account in the new account structure, at least one week in advance. You’ll be able to access your new account preview through your current account. (You may need to log-in a second time to get the initial access to the preview.)

8. Click the “Preview” button in the alert in your current account.
Ever wish you could look into the future to see how things will turn out? Well, when it comes to upgrading your account, you can. Use the preview to get familiar with the new layout and features before you upgrade.

9. Click the “Upgrade Now” button to begin your upgrade.
Once you’ve reviewed your account preview, you can start the upgrade process yourself by clicking the “Upgrade Now” button that will be visible within your current account. This will allow you to start taking advantage of all the new features right away.

10. Control the time of your upgrade by proactively upgrading your account.
Consider clicking the “Upgrade Now” button at the end of a business day, as it could take up to eight hours for the system to complete your upgrade, though no action is necessary on your part during this time. If you have questions, please call 866-YAHOO-98.

By taking these steps, your upgrade to the new Sponsored Search should be a smooth one.

-The Team

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