30 May 2007
Earlier this year, Yahoo! launched a new a new paid search ad serving system called Panama in the United States. This system was intended to improve the way that Yahoo! displays its paid listings, to make it more comparable with the high-tech approaches taken by the likes of Google and MSN. Certain advertisers were recently sent an email saying that Yahoo! is planning to run a limited test with this system in the UK.
Until now, the system that Yahoo! has used to display its paid search ads was based on a system developed in 1998 called Goto.com. This system offered websites the opportunity to appear within the search results by paying money, and to appear at the top of search results by paying more than their competitors. The idea was that websites that were willing and able to pay more than their competitors were generally going to be better, more successful websites.
The system was a hugely successful one in the initial stages of the commercialisation of the internet, and it became a major profit driver for both MSN and Yahoo!. In 2001, Goto.com renamed itself as Overture, in a move towards a more sophisticated and professional system. Eventually, in 2003, Overture was acquired by Yahoo! and was re-branded as Yahoo! Search Marketing.
Paid search advertising has become a cut-throat market and Yahoo!'s main competitors, Google and MSN, have both created highly advanced ad serving systems. The Panama system will feature the two main advantages of these systems - a more sophisticated account structure and the ability to reward advertisers for creating more targeted and relevant adverts.
The account structure is only likely to be of interest to people who will be working with the very fundamentals of the Yahoo! advertising system. Currently there isn't really much of a structure to speak of, and can get very confusing for large paid search campaigns. The new system will let you organise your campaigns more effectively, making them easier to manage.
The second change, rewarding the creation of relevant ads, is likely to have an impact on anyone involved in paid search advertising. Yahoo! will now look at how often the advert is clicked on, what the page it's taken to contains, the language contained in the text advert and many other factors to try and assign a value to how relevant the advert really is.
Ultimately, if the advertiser is successful in creating a relevant campaign, they will be rewarded by being allowed to pay less money in order to be displayed higher up in the rankings. The new system will also eliminate 'bid blocking', whereby competitors are able to artificially inflate the prices that you pay for your paid search ads by bidding slightly lower than your bid.
The new system will not increase the number of people who are searching on Yahoo!, but it will let advertisers snag a larger share of these searches by creating more sophisticated advertising campaigns. Essentially, it allows you to increase the return on your investment by employing clever, more unique tactics.
Panama has already been launched in a few world markets to mixed success. In the US, Panama hasn't quite lived up to expectations, but has increased Yahoo!'s lead in search in both Japan and Taiwan.
As yet, no dates have been announced regarding the launch of Panama in the UK. While initial plans quoted that the system would go live between April and June, Yahoo! now claims that advertiser migration - the moving of clients over to the new system - will begin "later this quarter".
As it stands, the prospect of Panama's UK launch is exciting: it promises new things in the field of paid search and may make Yahoo! more competitive in the British search market. Big things are certainly afoot.
Yahoo! tests UK waters for imminent Panama launch
Earlier this year, Yahoo! launched a new a new paid search ad serving system called Panama in the United States. This system was intended to improve the way that Yahoo! displays its paid listings, to make it more comparable with the high-tech approaches taken by the likes of Google and MSN. Certain advertisers were recently sent an email saying that Yahoo! is planning to run a limited test with this system in the UK.
Until now, the system that Yahoo! has used to display its paid search ads was based on a system developed in 1998 called Goto.com. This system offered websites the opportunity to appear within the search results by paying money, and to appear at the top of search results by paying more than their competitors. The idea was that websites that were willing and able to pay more than their competitors were generally going to be better, more successful websites.
The system was a hugely successful one in the initial stages of the commercialisation of the internet, and it became a major profit driver for both MSN and Yahoo!. In 2001, Goto.com renamed itself as Overture, in a move towards a more sophisticated and professional system. Eventually, in 2003, Overture was acquired by Yahoo! and was re-branded as Yahoo! Search Marketing.
Paid search advertising has become a cut-throat market and Yahoo!'s main competitors, Google and MSN, have both created highly advanced ad serving systems. The Panama system will feature the two main advantages of these systems - a more sophisticated account structure and the ability to reward advertisers for creating more targeted and relevant adverts.
The account structure is only likely to be of interest to people who will be working with the very fundamentals of the Yahoo! advertising system. Currently there isn't really much of a structure to speak of, and can get very confusing for large paid search campaigns. The new system will let you organise your campaigns more effectively, making them easier to manage.
The second change, rewarding the creation of relevant ads, is likely to have an impact on anyone involved in paid search advertising. Yahoo! will now look at how often the advert is clicked on, what the page it's taken to contains, the language contained in the text advert and many other factors to try and assign a value to how relevant the advert really is.
Ultimately, if the advertiser is successful in creating a relevant campaign, they will be rewarded by being allowed to pay less money in order to be displayed higher up in the rankings. The new system will also eliminate 'bid blocking', whereby competitors are able to artificially inflate the prices that you pay for your paid search ads by bidding slightly lower than your bid.
The new system will not increase the number of people who are searching on Yahoo!, but it will let advertisers snag a larger share of these searches by creating more sophisticated advertising campaigns. Essentially, it allows you to increase the return on your investment by employing clever, more unique tactics.
Panama has already been launched in a few world markets to mixed success. In the US, Panama hasn't quite lived up to expectations, but has increased Yahoo!'s lead in search in both Japan and Taiwan.
As yet, no dates have been announced regarding the launch of Panama in the UK. While initial plans quoted that the system would go live between April and June, Yahoo! now claims that advertiser migration - the moving of clients over to the new system - will begin "later this quarter".
As it stands, the prospect of Panama's UK launch is exciting: it promises new things in the field of paid search and may make Yahoo! more competitive in the British search market. Big things are certainly afoot.
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