With the forthcoming Microsoft-Yahoo partnership, advertisers may be wondering whether Yahoo! still cares about search. The answer, according to the Yahoo! Search Marketing Blog, is a resounding "Yes." In fact, Yahoo! recently rolled out several new features, one of which provides advertisers with more flexibility to determine where their search ads are displayed through the Network Distribution setting. If used properly, this feature should allow advertisers to manage their ad spend and return on investment more efficiently.
Network Distribution Features The Network Distribution setting in Yahoo! now provides three options to advertisers: 1. Display search ads only on the search results pages of Yahoo! owned and operated sites, such as Yahoo.com, Delicious.com, etc. 2. Display search ads only on Yahoo! partner search sites, such as Comcast.net, WebMD.com, etc. 3. Display search ads on both Yahoo! sites and Yahoo! partner sites. Yahoo Partner Sites The Yahoo! partner search channel only features sites that trigger ads based on internal keyword searches; it does not include Yahoo!’s content network. It is important to note that these partners are not just exclusively large, well-known sites. They also include a number of smaller sites whose quality and volume of traffic can vary. If you choose to display your ads on both Yahoo! Search sites and Yahoo! partner sites, you can manage partner search bids separately from search bids, but only on a percentage basis. For example, your bids on Yahoo! partner sites can be set to 10% less than your bids on Yahoo! Search sites.
Access the Network Distribution Setting The Network Distribution setting can be applied at the campaign or ad group level. To apply it at the campaign level, drill down to a campaign and click on the "Campaign Settings" link. Next, click the "Edit" button on the right side of the "Network Distribution" box.
You will now see a page providing the option of targeting one or both channels. Careful Data Analysis is Important This page also displays data comparing performance from Yahoo! Search traffic and Yahoo! partner traffic, including impressions, clicks and cost per conversion. However, what you see here is based on 30 days of historical data. There is currently no option to apply a custom date range in this view. This is important to note, because if you see a large difference in performance between the two networks, you may be tempted to exclude partner syndication -- be careful not to jump to conclusions, especially if you have not had a significant number of clicks or conversions in the past 30 days. To gain more insight over a longer period of time, use the "Ad delivery" report to better assess the performance of partner syndication. Calculate hypothetical ROI by excluding sites with high traffic and low conversion rates. Remember, you can exclude up to 500 domains at the account level. Also, if you decide to manage partner search sites differently, be careful not to make any drastic bid reductions, as you run the risk of limiting your ad impressions or suppressing them altogether. Instead, consider a more gradual approach to reduction and again, be sure to utilize the Ad delivery report which might even reduce the need for bid reductions altogether.
Andrew Bernero, Clickable SEM Guru
Note: Clickable employees volunteer several hours a week to helping other search marketers succeed. "Clickable Gurus" participate in numerous online search communities to provide straightforward answers to numerous questions, and, each week, one of the gurus posts a search-marketing tip to the Clickable Blog.
