Yahoo Updates Search Ad Platform
Date: 30/10/2006
Yahoo has been conversing with those in the field of search engine optimisation about the new update codenamed Panama. Panama has taken about 18 months to complete and instead of relying on information provided by Overture (a company Yahoo purchased in 2003 and an industry leader a few years back) the new Panama update relies on the information from the Yahoo index itself.
Yahoo is trying to capture the relevancy rating that has proved so popular with Google Adwords. Yahoo's current ad system is not very flexible and only takes into account the amount of money an advertiser is willing to spend. This new update by Yahoo closes that gap by provising a Quality Index where a number between 1-5 is assigned to an advert which takes into consideration the ads click through rate, keyword relevancy, the landing page, the display url amongst others.
Also, Yahoo are updating their interface and making it easier to use. Anybody who has used Overture and Adwords will hands down agree that Adwords is much easier to use. Overture also takes a few days to show and advert whereas Adwords shows an advert within 15 minutes. yahoo have also addressed this issue by allowing your ads to go live within minutes.
This is a welcome change but will it make Yahoo market leader again in the lucrative Pay Per Click market? Well, been as though Google had this nailed before work even started on the Panama update, i doubt it. I'm sure Google have something up their sleeve.
The new Yahoo update is likely to go live in the first quarter of 2007
