Yahoo! prepares to defend its search engine marketing turf

By Steve Malone

Posted on 30 Aug 2005 at 11:59

A full 'self-serve' ad publishing model is new for Yahoo! Now that the system is opened up to allow smaller publishers to show Yahoo ads on their sites, the next logical step may be to automate the keyword management process.

Unlike Google's AdWords programme, Overture has worked on having real people manage much of the back end to the marketing campaigns. For example, there are 40 people in Dublin for the UK alone checking the keywords, relevancy and landing pages and making sure they all fit together and that the words are the right length.

This has meant that putting new bids into the system can mean a delay of up to 72 hours before the ads appear on the network. In contrast, Google's AdWords can turn a keyword bid around in minutes. Firminger admits this is a problem, particularly for companies that want to make last minute special offers.

Although the focus at the moment will inevitably be on the small partner network, Overture in the UK is also planning to expand its partnership programmes for SEM professionals and advertising agencies by bringing over the 'Ambassador' accreditation process to the UK.

'We'll be launching the Ambassador programme in the second half of the year. There will be some features which we won't be bringing over such as Search Submit Pro which isn't available over here.'