Knowledge is the Foundation To Success  

According to a recent blog from Yahoo, they have been testing a new service called Rich Ads that lets advertisers add video, images and custom search boxes to Yahoo search ads (view example). The results appear as “Promotional Results” that can combine the relevance of search with the impact of rich media.  A small group of advertisers tested it in the fourth quarter of 2008 and saw click-through rates (CTRs) rise by as much as 25%. Yahoo further states that these advertisers have also seen improved brand exposure and conversion rates.

The Rich Ads in Search program is currently only being shared with a small number of brand advertisers at this time and enables them to:

• Post images and video, which can increase the branding impact of search advertising.
• Create deep links to relevant pages, which can help drive conversions directly from the Yahoo! search results page.
• Include boxes within the listing that lets users search for their desired product or a store location directly without additional navigation.
• Show their logo, which enhances user trust.

This service should eventually be available to all advertisers. The Rich Ads appear as “Promotional Results” next to the search listing.

I suspect that we are in the midst of the Great Online Video Revolution. YouTube has already taken the world by storm and has been testing video advertising with YouTube Sponsored Videos. However, Google has not yet made the jump to include video ads within search results. However, I suspect it is just a matter of time. Yahoo is first to market with this concept, but if and when Google chooses to move, they will likely takeover the online video advertising market. It will be fun to watch this evolve over the next several years. If you are looking for custom web video production, Webivore has done a nice job with videos for several of our clients.

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Yahoo recently sent out an email updating their Terms & Conditions. According to JumpFly’s dedicated Yahoo Account Manager, nearly all of the changes “are related to the dissolution of Overture Services, Inc., which Yahoo! acquired in 2003. Also, the notice provision in Section 12 was slightly revised due to a change to our international entities.”

I haven’t read them in quite a while, so I took some time to scan through the T&C. Pretty much dry, boring legal-ese except for one paragraph that I found very, very interesting:
“OPTIMIZATION. In the U.S. only, for those advertisers not bound by an Insertion Order, we may help you optimize your account(s). Accordingly, you expressly agree that we may also: (i) create ads, (ii) add and/or remove keywords, and/or (iii) optimize your account(s). We will notify you via email of such changes made to your account(s), and can also include a spreadsheet of such changes upon your written request. If you would like any of such changes reversed, please reply to such email within 14 days of the change(s), and we will make commercially reasonable efforts to reverse the change(s) you specifically identify. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you remain responsible for all changes made to your account(s), including all click charges incurred prior to any reversions being made. It is your responsibility to monitor your account(s) and to ensure that your account settings are consistent with your business objectives.”

Wow. You mean to tell me Yahoo can go ahead and make changes to an account whenever they want and without contacting you to find out what your goals are for your account? I’m sitting here, trying to think of a word that adequately conveys exactly what I think of this policy, and all the words I’m coming up with are not fit for posting. It seems extremely irresponsible to me that Yahoo thinks they can add or delete search terms, and write new ads for someone they’ve never even spoke to. And then have the audacity to notify that company by email and only send them the changes if they are requested AND THEN only give them 14 days to request that it be put back.

And if you do request the change, they will only put forth “commercially reasonable” effort. Commercially reasonable? What does that mean? What if they commercially screwed things up for that client? Whose definition of commercially reasonable applies?

All I can say is thankfully our JumpFly clients have been opted out of such a crazy possibility. I can tell you that if I was on the receiving end of some Yahoo change, I’d be pretty upset if it didn’t work and I couldn’t go back to how my account was.

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Jerry Yang, who co-founded Yahoo in 1995, is stepping down after 17 challenging months as CEO. Yang, 40, will remain CEO until his replacement is hired and then revert to his previous advisory role of “Chief Yahoo.”

Failed Microsoft Buyout

Things became particularly interesting for Yang about six months back, when Microsoft attempted an unsolicited buyout for roughly $33 per share, which was a generous premium to Yahoo’s $19 stock price at that time.  Unfortunately for Yahoo shareholders, at least in the short term, Yang vocally resisted this opportunity and took measures to ensure that it would not come to be. Today, Yahoo’s stock price sits under $9 per share just six months later, the lowest level since 2003.

Microsoft might come back to the table, but just yesterday Steve Ballmer said, “We’ve moved on,” during a shareholder meeting in Bellevue, Washington. He reiterated that a partnership between Microsoft and Yahoo in the Internet-search market is “an interesting possibility.” However, Ballmer added that there are no talks about such a partnership at this time.

Google Backs Out of Partnership

Some are speculating that the final blow to Yang recently came from Google, who backed out of a proposed ad partnership to avoid a potential anti-trust battle with the Justice Department.

YouTube Surpasses Yahoo

Earlier this week, Comscore data revealed that YouTube surpassed Yahoo as the second most popular search service, receiving 2.6 billion search queries in August, 2008 compared to Yahoo’s 2.4 billion queries. The rapidly growing online video marketplace represents yet another area that Google dominates.

In a memo emailed to Yahoo employees Monday announcing his resignation, Yang wrote, “All of you know that I have always, and will always bleed purple. I will always do what I think is right for this great company. While this step will be an adjustment for all of us, I know it’s the right one.”

Yahoo needs to do something in order to prevent their one time search engine dominance from deteriorating into obscurity. Yahoo still boasts 500 million users worldwide, but increasingly every month, more and more are turning to Google for their search needs.

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