Yahoo Making Changes in Search and PPC
Sep 23rd, 2007 by msdanielle
Last Thursday, Gary and I attended a workshop at the Carlsbad Four Seasons Resort, hosted by Yahoo! Search Marketing. In an effort to garner feedback from their advertisers, they presented ideas on what changes YSM is undergoing and what updates are in the works for search. In exchange, they asked for constructive feedback from us, and what additional concerns and questions we wanted to bring to the table.
We sat listening intently as the management team at Yahoo! presented their proposals and best practices in all areas of the YSM system. It was actually more insightful of a workshop than I’d been expecting, and being able to hang out and chat with the YSM managers during the cocktail hour was worth the trip itself. Knowing that we had the opportunity to make an impact on the future of YSM — no matter how big or small — was greatly encouraging as an advertiser.
My recommendations and inquiries to them included minor complaints about the system back-end functions (that damn back button!) and load times, while Gary sort of hounded them on how they’d be able to compete with Google search. Needless to say, they weren’t happy with the phrasing of his question, but hey, it is what it is. Gary also inquired about how to go about getting a dedicated account rep, which is by no means an easy task. Jokingly, they responded with something along the lines of, “I can answer that for $15,000.” LOL
I recommend that advertisers just entering the game, as well as experienced PPC managers, check out these workshops if and when they come to your city. It wasn’t some sheisty sales conference set up to sell us on their system. These were all active advertisers, and Yahoo! was seeking direct feedback on how to improve their system. Plus, you can’t refuse free breakfast, lunch, snacks, desserts, and cocktails provided by the Four Seasons!
If any of you have inquiries, feedback or comments on the YSM system you’d like to discuss, feel free to leave them here. I’d love to discuss with you some of the things they touched on. But don’t worry about bringing up the darn back button issue…I’ve already requested they fix it! 
[Shameless plug: If you'd like to sign up for YSM and receive $50 in free clicks, you can do so through my link here. Sign up is free!]
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Great post Danielle! Its good to see you back! We missed not having you around for a few days!
hey enkay
thanks! yea i’ve been away for a few days, recovering from the wedding and the conference (had to go down to carlsbad for 2 days), getting settled into my new job, and just trying to decompress…!
I was wondering what happened to you. It’s great to know that a company such as Yahoo! is actually looking for and considering user feedback in such an active manner.
i agree — i have a much different outlook on their company and ad system now. i had a conversation with my marketing friend last night and he asked me how it went. we agree that yahoo is most likely very profitable with YSM just not at the same level as google. they might be in their shadow but in no way do i feel badly for them or anything. they really are just trying to create a better platform at this point.
Is a good approach by Yahoo. Are we going to see a comeback from them?
i agree completely — it’s definitely a good approach by Yahoo. i’m not sure “comeback” would be the term i’d use to describe their efforts. i think we will slowly see improvements but have to be keen to them — they don’t notify us each time they update a feature. but they will be adding a “previous” and “next” feature for us to scroll through the ad groups — thank goodness!!! are there any particular curiosities you have about the system? oops i just realized i forgot to link to their blog…will update that today…
Wow you’ve had a lot going on! Congrats on the new job. It’s great to have you back…I’ve missed your posts. I hope to hear more about YSM, it seems like they’re trying to become more client centric and user friendly.