Not to Totally Diss Yahoo!…
Jan 4th, 2008 by msdanielle
I’m going to preface this post by saying that Yahoo! Search Marketing has provided a great volume of high quality traffic for my clients, and generally speaking I am satisfied with their system. With that said, today I took the Yahoo! Ambassador test…and passed…with 92%…and I’m sort of left wondering which questions I got wrong.
The Ambassador Program was developed so that SEMs and agencies could manage multiple accounts from one place. Unlike Google AdWords’ MyClientCenter, Yahoo! Search Marketing (YSM) does not currently allow existing accounts to be merged into one area — you must create a new Ambassador account, then create and add new client accounts to it one at a time. Really.
To get the Ambassador account, account managers must pass the Ambassador test. It’s sort of like Google’s Advertising Professional exam, only not as comprehensive or…professional. There were moments where I was actually embarrassed by the questions. Take this little gem for instance:
Hmm… But the Yahoo-pride questions were the ones that really got me wondering about the validity of this test. For example:
Most of the questions were not this ridiculous, and mainly stuck with the basics of the YSM system. But I think because I’ve used the system for so long, I’d expected more of a challenge with this test. Plus, I thought the test strayed from its goal, but that’s just my thought.
In any event, it’s another badge I can place on my sites that states I know my way around the YSM system, which I do. I am seeing improvements though, like how they fixed that pesky back-button issue in October! 
All kidding aside, I am rooting for Yahoo! and I hope they’re able to focus on what we really need — like an equivalent to MyClientCenter, or a speedier page load time. Anyway, if you have any questions regarding the test, let me know!
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It’s funny how in North America, Yahoo! is a distant second to Google in almost every field, yet here in Japan, it’s a total opposite. Everyone here goes to Yahoo! first, and most non-English speaking people will say “What’s Google?” if you ask them about it. Here, the big Y! does everything from search, to auctions, to planning weddings (seriously). On top of this, the Yahoo.jp site loads pretty quick and the search functions are quite responsive … kinda makes me wonder why there’s such a disconnect between the Japanese and American divisions of the company.
Oh well, it’s all good. Congrats on your 92%, Danielle
from what i gather, yahoo! and yahoo! japan operate almost independently of each other. i spoke with a couple yahoo managers that went to yahoo japan and that’s the sense i got. anyway, thanks!
Congrats on your certification. Do you think its worth getting for someone not in internet marketing?
Do enough people know/recognize it to justify the cost?
Even if you are involved in internet marketing, such certifications are not necessarily obtained in order to be recognized by others, it’s rather something you just do for yourself.
Alan Johnson
the test is designed for internet marketers. if you want to learn about adwords inside and out without taking the test, just go through all of their tutorials and lessons. you don’t have to take the test, that’s just so you can have the badge.
Congrats on the new cert!
2008 has the feel of significant steps forward for Yahoo in the search engine wars, lots of great new stuff going on. Oh, fyi - the sidebar background is leaking all over the place in IE on this site right now, I use multiple bowsers for design and happened to visit with IE. Git fixin’ Ms!
how so? (in regards to yahoo)
btw i am getting my site redesigned and im too lazy to fix the sidebar
Some of these questions on the YSM test are really embarassing. Especially that second screen cap you’ve got there, that’s just terrible.
I was looking at going through the Google advertising exam myself recently, and probably still will… soon…
did you see “universe; galaxy; planet” ?
if you’re looking into getting PPC clients, you should get these.
I agree, even if, let’s face it, passing them is not much of a challenge for anyone who knows a thing or two about PPC, they are something you can mention to potential clients.
Alan Johnson
Interesting stat from Jason. Here in Aus, Hitwise told me that Google own 83% of the search engine market share, and Msoft is #2 (albeit only just ahead of Y). Wouldn’t you just hate to run one of the teensy search engines?
BTW someone said in New Zealand, Google % share is up over 90%. Wow.
This seems to be a clear sign of language positioning. Google practically owns the English search market while Yahoo! tends to do better elsewhere. That said, the markets that Yahoo! dominates is not where the money is at. These companies should really be doing some big pushes into the other Asian nations like China and India. The little presences they have right now just just isn’t enough to compete with local search solutions.
Of course, a big push in India might be a little difficult … how many languages are used in that country? 150?
Indeed, Y! definitely only has the potential of sending a fraction of the traffic G can your way, and that is not something which is likely to change anytime soon.
Alan Johnson
Interesting to hear about your experience with Yahoo!. I’ve sent a few emails to inquire about Y!’s ad services, and how I could participate in publishing Y! ads on my sites, only to receive silly unrelated auto-generated messages. I have to say — I’ve been very disappointed with their services in general. Guess I’m just old-school with the customer service thing.