By Matt Lawson
The Yahoo-Bing Search Alliance will result in a dramatic shift in the paid search marketing industry, changing the way advertisers manage their pay-per-click marketing programs. Under the new alliance, which starts this fall for U.S. accounts, advertisers will be required to use Microsoft's adCenter to manage both their Yahoo and Bing paid search advertising programs.
As an advertiser, what do you need to do to prepare your search engine marketing campaigns for the transition? There are several steps you can take to ensure your campaigns continue to function smoothly before, during, and after the transition to the new unified management platform.
Before we dive into the nuts-and-bolts of what you can do to prepare your campaigns for the transition, it's important to point out that you should start the process of transitioning to Microsoft adCenter now; waiting will cause undue headaches a few months from now, when you'll be deep into launching your critical Holiday 2010 campaigns. In our own research at my company, Marin Software, we've found that about two-thirds of large advertisers have begun to prepare their campaigns for the transition to a single Bing-Yahoo platform. If you're one of those advertisers who hasn't started the transition yet, it's time to get cracking!
For most search advertisers, the move to a single Bing-Yahoo platform will require adjustments to keywords, creative, bids, and analytical reports in order to maintain existing programs. Remember, this change isn't just a chore, but an opportunity. By combining your Bing and Yahoo programs on a single platform, you'll be able to streamline your search marketing efforts and more easily access the combined query volumes of these two engines.
Here are some strategies to make the Search Alliance transition as painless as possible:
Take stock of your programs. Among advertisers spending more than $100,000 a month on paid search, the average marketer spends 17% of its budget on Yahoo and only 5% on Bing. What's more, about 13% of advertisers do not currently run any campaigns on Bing. If you're one of the many search marketers with a smaller or non-existent Bing program, you'll need to invest in new keywords on Microsoft adCenter to maintain your paid search marketing revenues after the transition. Taking stock of the state of your Bing campaigns today can help you to assess the priority and level of effort required.
Decide on a transition plan. Before you begin adding keywords to your adCenter accounts, it's important to have a strategy. There are three options for getting your adCenter campaigns to parity with your previous Yahoo programs: you can augment your adCenter campaigns manually; you can copy your campaigns over from Yahoo; or you can attempt to replicate your Google campaigns in adCenter. If your adCenter campaigns are reasonably built out already, then the first option likely represents the least work and the lowest risk. The second option, copying your Yahoo campaigns over to adCenter, is supported by the Search Alliance. Adding Yahoo campaigns will be the easiest way to capture the same traffic you were receiving before, but remember Yahoo uses different match types and has different character limits for ad copy than adCenter does. If you plan to port Yahoo accounts over to adCenter, make sure to expand keywords to include misspellings and plurals, and modify creative to meet adCenter character limits. If this option isn't appealing, your Google campaigns have a similar structure to Bing campaigns, but copying these over will require a manual effort to download, format, and upload bulk-sheets to adCenter. Regardless of the option you choose, make sure to double check your landing pages and tracking URLs to avoid issues with missed traffic or miscounted conversions.
Prepare to bid with little history. As you build out your unified Bing-Yahoo search program, the new keywords you create in adCenter will lack the click and conversion history required to make effective bidding decisions. Adding to the complexity, the bid settings of any old keywords on Yahoo will be irrelevant, because the traffic and auction characteristics for the combined engines will be different. To prepare for this situation, make sure your bidding solution can create bids for new keywords and adjust quickly to changing traffic data. In order to start bidding accurately with a limited history, use data from similar keywords to determine bids. As individual keywords accumulate history, you can begin to weight their data more heavily into bidding decisions.
Monitor performance and react quickly. The transition itself will be a period of change, with keyword auctions clearing at new prices and traffic levels for some keywords rising dramatically. The best way to capitalize on this change is to proactively monitor keyword and campaign performance. Set up automated alerts that notify you when a keyword or group hits a specific threshold in terms of clicks, conversions, quality and cost. For terms that exceed benchmarks for performance, you can add similar keywords to your programs using misspellings, plurals, or even raw queries associated with the keyword. For high-volume keywords that end up lagging in quality and ROI, try switching out the copy to see if you can boost overall relevance and conversion. The Search Alliance transition is an opportunity for the smart marketer to optimize for the new combined traffic patterns.
The transition to a unified Yahoo-Bing ad management platform doesn't have to be a nightmare. Use this opportunity to fine tune campaigns, jettison poorly performing keywords, and analyze gaps in your programs. In six months time, you'll benefit from a streamlined search management process that gives you more time to invest in optimizing campaigns. More importantly, with lower management overhead and increased inventory, the Search Alliance represents an opportunity to grow your paid search programs through the new combined channel.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Yahoo Ready To Fix Advertising: What Will it Take?
Ramsey McGrory, Yahoo's vice president of North American Marketplaces and newly appointed head of Right Media, says fixing advertising requires the industry to focus on the "simple stuff." That means spending time on figuring out the standards for content classification, ad verification and data use. It's critical that the industry also addresses standards issues for order processing.
Bringing standards into digital advertising will bring down the cost of executing campaigns. Citing industry stats, McGrory says on average, digital campaigns cost about 25% to 30% to run, compared with 2% to 4% for TV. "We can't sustain that when the relative cost is much more, compared with other mediums," he says. "We also need better understanding at federal and state levels, as well as finding the appropriate use of data to give consumers what they expect."
They may not be the sexiest things, but they are the most important in the industry to address, McGrory says. Especially if agencies want to convince the largest brands that spend the majority of their dollars in television to have a reason to invest more in online campaigns.
The need for standards signals a maturing online advertising industry, although the industry remains in its infancy as it tries to support growth. There are disparate systems, aging technology platforms, ad-serving units and emerging ad video networks. "The industry feels somewhat like a gangly teenager in that you know all the capabilities are there," he says. "Someday that gangly teenager will grow into something bigger, but there are still things we must work out."
That maturing industry has left some companies admitting the need to update equipment. Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz recently spoke to analysts, pointing to the search engine's aging technology as a contributing factor to the company's declining performance. Similarly, Jay Herratti -- chief executive officer at CityGrid Media, formally Citysearch -- spent the last couple of years working to upgrade ad servers and platforms. Some might argue that many companies updated their infrastructure 10 years ago to deal with Y2K issues, but the technology has come a long way in the last decade.
Continued changes in digital will see traditional fixes move over to support customers, discover how to reach them, and determine the impact. The industry must take it back to core processes and implement them in digital, such as how to generate interest, intent and action.
While the discussion on how to fix advertising began during a panel at Internet Week, "much of the foundation to support processes will set in within the next three to four years," McGrory says. "It's already happening. Setting the foundations will reveal that the large digital companies and large industry organizations such as the IAB and 4As have a growing influence."
by Laurie Sullivan
Bringing standards into digital advertising will bring down the cost of executing campaigns. Citing industry stats, McGrory says on average, digital campaigns cost about 25% to 30% to run, compared with 2% to 4% for TV. "We can't sustain that when the relative cost is much more, compared with other mediums," he says. "We also need better understanding at federal and state levels, as well as finding the appropriate use of data to give consumers what they expect."
They may not be the sexiest things, but they are the most important in the industry to address, McGrory says. Especially if agencies want to convince the largest brands that spend the majority of their dollars in television to have a reason to invest more in online campaigns.
The need for standards signals a maturing online advertising industry, although the industry remains in its infancy as it tries to support growth. There are disparate systems, aging technology platforms, ad-serving units and emerging ad video networks. "The industry feels somewhat like a gangly teenager in that you know all the capabilities are there," he says. "Someday that gangly teenager will grow into something bigger, but there are still things we must work out."
That maturing industry has left some companies admitting the need to update equipment. Yahoo Chief Executive Officer Carol Bartz recently spoke to analysts, pointing to the search engine's aging technology as a contributing factor to the company's declining performance. Similarly, Jay Herratti -- chief executive officer at CityGrid Media, formally Citysearch -- spent the last couple of years working to upgrade ad servers and platforms. Some might argue that many companies updated their infrastructure 10 years ago to deal with Y2K issues, but the technology has come a long way in the last decade.
Continued changes in digital will see traditional fixes move over to support customers, discover how to reach them, and determine the impact. The industry must take it back to core processes and implement them in digital, such as how to generate interest, intent and action.
While the discussion on how to fix advertising began during a panel at Internet Week, "much of the foundation to support processes will set in within the next three to four years," McGrory says. "It's already happening. Setting the foundations will reveal that the large digital companies and large industry organizations such as the IAB and 4As have a growing influence."
by Laurie Sullivan
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Yahoo to turn subscribers' e-mail contact lists into social networking base
By Cecilia Kang
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Yahoo plans to announce Tuesday that it is jumping into social networking by using its massive population of e-mail subscribers as a base for sharing information on the Web.
Over the next few weeks, its 280 million e-mail users will be able to exchange comments, pictures and news articles with others in their address books. The program won't expose a user's contact list to the public, as was done by Google through its social networking application, Buzz. But unless a user proactively opts out of the program, those Yahoo e-mail subscribers will automatically be part of a sweeping rollout of features that will incorporate the kinds of sharing done on sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
The plan could spark criticism from Yahoo e-mail users, who signed up for the free service perhaps never imagining the people they e-mailed would become friends for sharing vacation videos, political causes and random thoughts throughout the day. And the move comes amid growing concern by federal lawmakers and regulators over how firms such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft have handled the privacy of Internet users.
After backlash, Facebook last week announced new privacy tools to make it easier for users to block Web sites from tapping into their information, as well as a simpler way to configure who on the site can see personal data. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, asked Facebook on Friday to explain what kind of user data it had shared with third-party sites. Conyers also asked Google to retain, for federal and state regulators, the data the company scooped off WiFi networks as it collected Street View mapping photos around the country.
To allay privacy concerns, Yahoo said it would give users a week's notice before launching the new features and provide a single button on the site for opting out entirely.
"We've been watching and trying to be thoughtful about our approach," said Anne Toth, head of privacy for Yahoo.
Specifically, the company will launch a product called Yahoo Updates that allows e-mail users to see what other contacts on their lists are commenting about or sharing on sites like Yahoo Finance, Facebook and the photo sharing site Flickr. Updates will initially include 15 sites and partnerships and will eventually expand to include partners such as Twitter this summer.
Yahoo has tiptoed into social media, launching a similar tool last year called Connections, which allowed each user to customize a list of contacts with whom to share information. The company also tried two years ago to build a competitive product to Facebook, where users sought "friends," or contacts, to join micro-networks within Yahoo in the same way Facebook users amass friends through requests. Yahoo abandoned that project and instead decided to tap into its captive audience of e-mail users.
The move is part of a revamping of the once-rudderless Internet pioneer. Chief executive Carol Bartz, brought in last year to lead the firm, has stripped the company of unprofitable business units to focus on its greatest strengths -- its popular free e-mail and messaging programs, and its library of sports, news and finance sites -- to keep users in the Yahoo universe longer.
The longer a user stays on the site, the more advertising dollars and e-commerce it generates. But it remains to be seen if users will view their contact lists as the kinds of people they choose to socialize with on the Web. When Google launched Buzz, some users complained that they used Gmail for business and to correspond with strangers and that they didn't want to share birthday videos with their plumbers or bosses.
Yahoo will begin notifying users of the change on June 7, one week before the launch. Users who don't want to participate can click one button on the settings page to opt out. Or they can customize each piece of information -- a Facebook update or a comment on a Yahoo news story -- to either be shared with Yahoo e-mail contacts or Facebook. Eventually, Twitter and other partners with social-networking platforms will also be included.
"What Yahoo has done is recognized that your e-mail or messenger network is a useful resource and that you may be interested in knowing what your contacts are interested in knowing about, and they stop there," said Jules Polonetsky, the director of the Future of Privacy Forum, a privacy think tank. "That's opposed to the idea that then, therefore, your relationship with them risks being exposed."
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Yahoo plans to announce Tuesday that it is jumping into social networking by using its massive population of e-mail subscribers as a base for sharing information on the Web.
Over the next few weeks, its 280 million e-mail users will be able to exchange comments, pictures and news articles with others in their address books. The program won't expose a user's contact list to the public, as was done by Google through its social networking application, Buzz. But unless a user proactively opts out of the program, those Yahoo e-mail subscribers will automatically be part of a sweeping rollout of features that will incorporate the kinds of sharing done on sites such as Facebook and MySpace.
The plan could spark criticism from Yahoo e-mail users, who signed up for the free service perhaps never imagining the people they e-mailed would become friends for sharing vacation videos, political causes and random thoughts throughout the day. And the move comes amid growing concern by federal lawmakers and regulators over how firms such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft have handled the privacy of Internet users.
After backlash, Facebook last week announced new privacy tools to make it easier for users to block Web sites from tapping into their information, as well as a simpler way to configure who on the site can see personal data. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, asked Facebook on Friday to explain what kind of user data it had shared with third-party sites. Conyers also asked Google to retain, for federal and state regulators, the data the company scooped off WiFi networks as it collected Street View mapping photos around the country.
To allay privacy concerns, Yahoo said it would give users a week's notice before launching the new features and provide a single button on the site for opting out entirely.
"We've been watching and trying to be thoughtful about our approach," said Anne Toth, head of privacy for Yahoo.
Specifically, the company will launch a product called Yahoo Updates that allows e-mail users to see what other contacts on their lists are commenting about or sharing on sites like Yahoo Finance, Facebook and the photo sharing site Flickr. Updates will initially include 15 sites and partnerships and will eventually expand to include partners such as Twitter this summer.
Yahoo has tiptoed into social media, launching a similar tool last year called Connections, which allowed each user to customize a list of contacts with whom to share information. The company also tried two years ago to build a competitive product to Facebook, where users sought "friends," or contacts, to join micro-networks within Yahoo in the same way Facebook users amass friends through requests. Yahoo abandoned that project and instead decided to tap into its captive audience of e-mail users.
The move is part of a revamping of the once-rudderless Internet pioneer. Chief executive Carol Bartz, brought in last year to lead the firm, has stripped the company of unprofitable business units to focus on its greatest strengths -- its popular free e-mail and messaging programs, and its library of sports, news and finance sites -- to keep users in the Yahoo universe longer.
The longer a user stays on the site, the more advertising dollars and e-commerce it generates. But it remains to be seen if users will view their contact lists as the kinds of people they choose to socialize with on the Web. When Google launched Buzz, some users complained that they used Gmail for business and to correspond with strangers and that they didn't want to share birthday videos with their plumbers or bosses.
Yahoo will begin notifying users of the change on June 7, one week before the launch. Users who don't want to participate can click one button on the settings page to opt out. Or they can customize each piece of information -- a Facebook update or a comment on a Yahoo news story -- to either be shared with Yahoo e-mail contacts or Facebook. Eventually, Twitter and other partners with social-networking platforms will also be included.
"What Yahoo has done is recognized that your e-mail or messenger network is a useful resource and that you may be interested in knowing what your contacts are interested in knowing about, and they stop there," said Jules Polonetsky, the director of the Future of Privacy Forum, a privacy think tank. "That's opposed to the idea that then, therefore, your relationship with them risks being exposed."
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Yahoo Looks To Direct Mail Partner To Help it Crack Local Ad Markets
While Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) executives are preparing to discuss the company’s partnership with Nokia (NYSE: NOK) at a Monday morning press conference, other parts of the organization are also looking to outside alliances to extend its reach into local advertising. In a conversation with paidContent, Lem Lloyd, Yahoo’s VP of channel sales, said the company would be working with direct marketer Valassis on attracting local telcos to the online ad space, as these companies still tend to focus on affiliate TV stations and direct mail.
Yahoo’s targeting of telcos comes after a few months of aiming its local ad services at fast food franchises (in a sign of Yahoo’s attempts to woo these companies, it uses the preferred marketing jargon of “quick serve restaurants.”)
“All media companies are putting a focus on local ad spend, which still remains largely untapped,” Lloyd said. “Local represents half of all the $250 billion marketing spend in the U.S., but only a fraction is online. There are a lot of reasons these companies aren’t spending online. For one thing, many local ad buys are bought on a regional basis, as opposed to the more audience-targeted online ad sales structure. But mostly, it’s because companies haven’t put the time in to talk to all the various franchisee groups.”
As it seeks to reach out local marketers, Yahoo is partnering with companies like Valassis, which provides direct mail services to many telco companies. Yahoo believes it will open the door to moving more of that money online.
The partnership with a direct mail company also represents an evolution of the model behind the Yahoo Newspaper Consortium. As newspapers opened a lot of doors to Yahoo across local ad markets, the same is true of direct mail providers like Valassis. Also, in much the same way that Yahoo has provided ad sales training to newspapers through the Consortium, the company will also work with direct marketers to expand the digital possibilities there as well.
While Yahoo is looking to do more partnerships, it also has been cutting some ties to others. Over the past few months, Yahoo has parted ways with a handful of newspapers in the 800-member Consortium, as some members haven’t responded well to the company’s ad sales guidance.
Lloyd declined to discuss the specific issues there, or identify which members have left the fold, saying it was less than a dozen papers among hundreds. “We’re very selective on who we work with on a reseller basis,” he said. “One of our strategies is to have relationships that allow us to better go after specific industries. We simply want to focus on partners who put the same commitment into local ad sales as we do. It would be easy sign reseller agreements and brag about the numbers of partners. But we’re interested in quality, not quantity when it comes to who we work with.”
Yahoo’s targeting of telcos comes after a few months of aiming its local ad services at fast food franchises (in a sign of Yahoo’s attempts to woo these companies, it uses the preferred marketing jargon of “quick serve restaurants.”)
“All media companies are putting a focus on local ad spend, which still remains largely untapped,” Lloyd said. “Local represents half of all the $250 billion marketing spend in the U.S., but only a fraction is online. There are a lot of reasons these companies aren’t spending online. For one thing, many local ad buys are bought on a regional basis, as opposed to the more audience-targeted online ad sales structure. But mostly, it’s because companies haven’t put the time in to talk to all the various franchisee groups.”
As it seeks to reach out local marketers, Yahoo is partnering with companies like Valassis, which provides direct mail services to many telco companies. Yahoo believes it will open the door to moving more of that money online.
The partnership with a direct mail company also represents an evolution of the model behind the Yahoo Newspaper Consortium. As newspapers opened a lot of doors to Yahoo across local ad markets, the same is true of direct mail providers like Valassis. Also, in much the same way that Yahoo has provided ad sales training to newspapers through the Consortium, the company will also work with direct marketers to expand the digital possibilities there as well.
While Yahoo is looking to do more partnerships, it also has been cutting some ties to others. Over the past few months, Yahoo has parted ways with a handful of newspapers in the 800-member Consortium, as some members haven’t responded well to the company’s ad sales guidance.
Lloyd declined to discuss the specific issues there, or identify which members have left the fold, saying it was less than a dozen papers among hundreds. “We’re very selective on who we work with on a reseller basis,” he said. “One of our strategies is to have relationships that allow us to better go after specific industries. We simply want to focus on partners who put the same commitment into local ad sales as we do. It would be easy sign reseller agreements and brag about the numbers of partners. But we’re interested in quality, not quantity when it comes to who we work with.”
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Yahoo Beefs up B2B Marketing Team to Present Consistent Message
Yahoo's top business-to-business marketing exec has rounded out her team. After just a few months with the firm, Mollie Spilman, SVP of global b-to-b marketing, has hired former Tremor, Viacom, and Cisco marketing and research execs to help present a more consistent message to agencies, publishers, developers, and other non-consumer Yahoo customers.
Shane Steele, former VP marketing at video network Tremor Media, will start with Yahoo later this month as VP global b-to-b marketing communications and operations, and will report to Spilman. Spilman came on board in January as part of a marketing department restructuring devised by Yahoo CMO Elisa Steele. Shane Steele will be responsible for Yahoo outreach to industry through its advertiser and publisher portals, blogs, and other operations. She'll also head up an industry-aimed ad campaign set to break in June, according to Spilman.
Newly-hired senior director of b-to-b insights marketing, Lauren Weinberg, hails from Viacom, where she handled research for digital sales at the media firm. Reporting to Shane Steele, Weinberg is tasked with presenting a more comprehensive story to the market from an audience and consumer research and data perspective. She'll work alongside Yahoo research teams including its ad insights group, which is part of the sales division.
The goal, said Spilman, is to bring "more consistency to the message of all the work we do...it seemed schizophrenic to the market." She explained that currently some clients "have a hard time navigating" Yahoo's proprietary research, and "don't even know who to call to dive deeper."
Tanya Andrade, previously with Cisco, started today as Yahoo's new executive director of events, and will guide the company's business-aimed events team of around 30 people. "The volume and sophistication of the events could probably turn up a notch," said Spilman.
Spilman said her hiring spree is "done," adding, "I really felt like I wanted to bring some fresh perspective and fresh ideas into the company."
By Kate Kaye
Shane Steele, former VP marketing at video network Tremor Media, will start with Yahoo later this month as VP global b-to-b marketing communications and operations, and will report to Spilman. Spilman came on board in January as part of a marketing department restructuring devised by Yahoo CMO Elisa Steele. Shane Steele will be responsible for Yahoo outreach to industry through its advertiser and publisher portals, blogs, and other operations. She'll also head up an industry-aimed ad campaign set to break in June, according to Spilman.
Newly-hired senior director of b-to-b insights marketing, Lauren Weinberg, hails from Viacom, where she handled research for digital sales at the media firm. Reporting to Shane Steele, Weinberg is tasked with presenting a more comprehensive story to the market from an audience and consumer research and data perspective. She'll work alongside Yahoo research teams including its ad insights group, which is part of the sales division.
The goal, said Spilman, is to bring "more consistency to the message of all the work we do...it seemed schizophrenic to the market." She explained that currently some clients "have a hard time navigating" Yahoo's proprietary research, and "don't even know who to call to dive deeper."
Tanya Andrade, previously with Cisco, started today as Yahoo's new executive director of events, and will guide the company's business-aimed events team of around 30 people. "The volume and sophistication of the events could probably turn up a notch," said Spilman.
Spilman said her hiring spree is "done," adding, "I really felt like I wanted to bring some fresh perspective and fresh ideas into the company."
By Kate Kaye
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Yahoo Ad Campaign Zings Google
Yahoo posted a sneak peek of several creative pieces that will become part of the next phase of the company's "It's You!" marketing campaign. This second phase begins May 18, and will run through the year. The ads will appear online, on billboards, airplanes, television and radio. While the campaign aims to highlight Yahoo's products and services and what they mean to consumers, a video on Yahoo's site sets the tone.
That tone takes a blatant jab at Google. The video begins with the narrator explaining "There's a theory about homepages. They should get you where you want to go. You don't stop or linger. There's nothing to look at but a box and a button."
The video implies that Google's cold blank homepage isn't inviting, and as soon as you arrive it hustles you out the door. The narrator says when you look at this homepage nothing looks back at you. Yahoo's homepage, on the other hand, becomes the center of your online life by getting to know you. It contains the news and sports you want to read about, as well as items you're searching for on eBay and connections to friends on Facebook and Twitter. It's a network, homepage, search engine, as well as everything you're into.
Still, analysts and industry insiders remain skeptical that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz can turn Yahoo around. Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, vice president of marketing at Webtrends, and former Yahoo employee, says companies that go on the offensive from a marketing rather than a product perspective signal that they're in trouble. It would be interesting to know if the creative minds at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the agency responsible for the ad, see it that way.
Yahoo's challenge isn't about growing the brand, but rather the content and innovations they introduce into their network, says Kaykas-Wolff, who spent three and a half years at Yahoo. "The reality is, they're being beat in two different areas that are massively important," he says. "Those two areas are algorithmic search and semantic search."
Kaykas-Wolff believes Yahoo conceded algorithmic search to Google, and semantic search to Facebook. He called it a "curious time" for Yahoo because the company's challenge isn't just to stop the decline of the business -- but find ways to grow it. It you start going on the attack from a marketing perspective you start grasping at straws, he says.
Google's search share rose about 2% to 71.40% of all U.S. searches in April 2010, while the No. 2 search engine, Yahoo, declined about 1% to 14.96%, according to Experian Hitwise. Bing and Ask received 9.43% and 2.18%, respectively. The remaining 78 search engines measured accounted for 2.03% of U.S. searches.
Advertisers would likely agree with Piper Jaffray Analyst Gene Munster, who believes Yahoo's strength remains in display ads, rather than search. "While the focus of investors around Yahoo's last earnings report mainly centered around the impact of Microsoft beginning to make payments to Yahoo in accordance with the search transition, we believe the most important part of Yahoo's business is the display segment," he wrote in a research note published Wednesday. "Display grew 20% year on year in Q1, ahead of our 12% estimate."
It's unclear whether the Sunnyvale, Calif., company can pull off a turnaround, though most folks hope for the best. It's also not clear if Yahoo's campaign will have or has had any impact.
That tone takes a blatant jab at Google. The video begins with the narrator explaining "There's a theory about homepages. They should get you where you want to go. You don't stop or linger. There's nothing to look at but a box and a button."
The video implies that Google's cold blank homepage isn't inviting, and as soon as you arrive it hustles you out the door. The narrator says when you look at this homepage nothing looks back at you. Yahoo's homepage, on the other hand, becomes the center of your online life by getting to know you. It contains the news and sports you want to read about, as well as items you're searching for on eBay and connections to friends on Facebook and Twitter. It's a network, homepage, search engine, as well as everything you're into.
Still, analysts and industry insiders remain skeptical that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz can turn Yahoo around. Jascha Kaykas-Wolff, vice president of marketing at Webtrends, and former Yahoo employee, says companies that go on the offensive from a marketing rather than a product perspective signal that they're in trouble. It would be interesting to know if the creative minds at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, the agency responsible for the ad, see it that way.
Yahoo's challenge isn't about growing the brand, but rather the content and innovations they introduce into their network, says Kaykas-Wolff, who spent three and a half years at Yahoo. "The reality is, they're being beat in two different areas that are massively important," he says. "Those two areas are algorithmic search and semantic search."
Kaykas-Wolff believes Yahoo conceded algorithmic search to Google, and semantic search to Facebook. He called it a "curious time" for Yahoo because the company's challenge isn't just to stop the decline of the business -- but find ways to grow it. It you start going on the attack from a marketing perspective you start grasping at straws, he says.
Google's search share rose about 2% to 71.40% of all U.S. searches in April 2010, while the No. 2 search engine, Yahoo, declined about 1% to 14.96%, according to Experian Hitwise. Bing and Ask received 9.43% and 2.18%, respectively. The remaining 78 search engines measured accounted for 2.03% of U.S. searches.
Advertisers would likely agree with Piper Jaffray Analyst Gene Munster, who believes Yahoo's strength remains in display ads, rather than search. "While the focus of investors around Yahoo's last earnings report mainly centered around the impact of Microsoft beginning to make payments to Yahoo in accordance with the search transition, we believe the most important part of Yahoo's business is the display segment," he wrote in a research note published Wednesday. "Display grew 20% year on year in Q1, ahead of our 12% estimate."
It's unclear whether the Sunnyvale, Calif., company can pull off a turnaround, though most folks hope for the best. It's also not clear if Yahoo's campaign will have or has had any impact.
Yahoo Gains Search Market Share -- But Do New Features Cloud Picture?
Wall Street analysts aren't convinced data from comScore's U.S. April 2010 report tell the whole picture of gains in search market share for Yahoo -- up from 16.9% in the prior month, to 17.7%. This marks a continual sequential rise in search engine market share gains for the company that some marketers wrote off long ago.
Analyst don't doubt comScore reported the numbers correctly, but digging a little deeper, some attribute the uptick to various new features that could be falsely raising the numbers. But perhaps comScore and Yahoo should more closely define a search as the industry continues to change.
Broadpoint Amtech analyst Ben Schachter believes the slideshow feature on Yahoo News inflated Yahoo's results. As people scroll through images in the slideshow, they generate a search for each picture. ComScore tracks those searches. Schachter writes that backing out of the queries gives Yahoo about a 16.9% search market share in the U.S., which would make its share flat, compared with March.
Similar to Schachter, Barclays Capital analyst Douglas Anmuth points to Yahoo features -- such as the slideshow -- that recently boosted query numbers counted by comScore. That's regardless of the fact that during the first quarter earnings call with analysts, Yahoo management indicated search share had bottomed and execs expected a rebound in the second quarter.
Anmuth tells us in a research note that April comScore data backs up Yahoo exec's assertions. And while he believes these features boost query numbers, Yahoo has made progress in building search deeper into verticals and providing more search-related links across the site. Anmuth, however, "would prefer to see share gains come more from higher quality searches that could have a greater direct impact on revenue."
Despite the good but cloudy search data, Anmuth likes Yahoo shares based on display strength, margin expansion, Asian assets, and attractive valuation.
J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan attributes the increase to a new interface that ties content with relevant searches. He describes the navigation as more likely to occur during a series of searches, which are counted by comScore and contribute to search share. Yahoo also benefited from better data collection at Yahoo Finance, he wrote.
Khan believes "significant user interface changes cloud the picture" that prevents you from comparing the numbers from this month to last. He tells investors not to become too optimistic and explains additional months of data under the new method could help clarify search results.
Analyst don't doubt comScore reported the numbers correctly, but digging a little deeper, some attribute the uptick to various new features that could be falsely raising the numbers. But perhaps comScore and Yahoo should more closely define a search as the industry continues to change.
Broadpoint Amtech analyst Ben Schachter believes the slideshow feature on Yahoo News inflated Yahoo's results. As people scroll through images in the slideshow, they generate a search for each picture. ComScore tracks those searches. Schachter writes that backing out of the queries gives Yahoo about a 16.9% search market share in the U.S., which would make its share flat, compared with March.
Similar to Schachter, Barclays Capital analyst Douglas Anmuth points to Yahoo features -- such as the slideshow -- that recently boosted query numbers counted by comScore. That's regardless of the fact that during the first quarter earnings call with analysts, Yahoo management indicated search share had bottomed and execs expected a rebound in the second quarter.
Anmuth tells us in a research note that April comScore data backs up Yahoo exec's assertions. And while he believes these features boost query numbers, Yahoo has made progress in building search deeper into verticals and providing more search-related links across the site. Anmuth, however, "would prefer to see share gains come more from higher quality searches that could have a greater direct impact on revenue."
Despite the good but cloudy search data, Anmuth likes Yahoo shares based on display strength, margin expansion, Asian assets, and attractive valuation.
J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan attributes the increase to a new interface that ties content with relevant searches. He describes the navigation as more likely to occur during a series of searches, which are counted by comScore and contribute to search share. Yahoo also benefited from better data collection at Yahoo Finance, he wrote.
Khan believes "significant user interface changes cloud the picture" that prevents you from comparing the numbers from this month to last. He tells investors not to become too optimistic and explains additional months of data under the new method could help clarify search results.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Blake Irving Joins Yahoo! as Chief Product Officer
Blake Irving Joins Yahoo! as Chief Product Officer
Chief Scientist Position, Held by Prabhakar Raghavan, Elevated to Report to CEO Bartz
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Apr 19, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced the appointment of Blake Irving as Chief Product Officer. In related news, Prabhakar Raghavan will continue to lead innovation efforts at Yahoo! Labs as Chief Scientist. Both Irving and Raghavan will report directly to Carol Bartz, CEO. This new leadership will focus on speeding key inputs and decision making into product strategy and direction.
Ari Balogh, current head of products and technology, will be leaving the company on June 3 for personal reasons and will work closely with Irving to ensure a smooth transition. Irving will assume the position on May 17.
"Blake brings to Yahoo! genuine large scale Internet expertise from a mature company known for world-class technology. In addition, Prabhakar has invaluable technological insights and expertise that I look forward to having my executive team hear more directly," said Bartz. "With leaders like Blake and Prabhakar, I am confident that we will increase technological innovation and deliver against our vision to be the center of people's online lives."
"Yahoo! has an impressive product and technology portfolio that has provided unparalleled value to its customers at scale," said Irving. "I look forward to working with the team to bring forward more unique and highly personal experiences to Yahoo! consumers, deliver on the company's promise of Science, Art and Scale to Yahoo! advertisers, and develop the amazing talent at the company so we may continue to deliver more and faster innovations to the market."
As Chief Product Officer, Irving will lead the company's products organization, which is responsible for the vision, strategy, design and development of Yahoo!'s global consumer and advertiser product portfolio.
Irving was most recently a professor at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management in Malibu, California. In his prior role as corporate vice president of the Windows Live Platform group, Irving led a team of 4,000 to build and operate Microsoft's Internet-scale services platform, advertiser and developer ecosystem. Irving also held a variety of development and general management positions at Microsoft.
Before joining Microsoft, Irving held development and product marketing management positions at Xerox Corp., Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd. and Compaq Computer Corp. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University and a Master's degree in business administration from Pepperdine University.
Raghavan joined Yahoo! in 2005, and serves as Chief Scientist and head of Yahoo! Labs. Raghavan's research priorities include text and web mining, and algorithm design. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Raghavan was the chief technology officer at Verity and held a number of technical and managerial positions at IBM Research. He is a consulting professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and former editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Association of Computing Machinery. He has co-authored textbooks on algorithms and information retrieval, more than 100 papers and holds a dozen patents. Raghavan received his PhD from Berkeley and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, as well as a fellow of the ACM and of the IEEE.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most visited Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo!'s vision is to be the center of people's online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).
Yahoo! is the trademark and/or registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc.
All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Yahoo! Inc.
Yahoo! Inc.Mojgan Khalili, 408-349-7482
mojgan@yahoo-inc.com
Meagan Busath,
408-349-364
8meaganb@yahoo-inc.com
Chief Scientist Position, Held by Prabhakar Raghavan, Elevated to Report to CEO Bartz
SUNNYVALE, Calif., Apr 19, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) today announced the appointment of Blake Irving as Chief Product Officer. In related news, Prabhakar Raghavan will continue to lead innovation efforts at Yahoo! Labs as Chief Scientist. Both Irving and Raghavan will report directly to Carol Bartz, CEO. This new leadership will focus on speeding key inputs and decision making into product strategy and direction.
Ari Balogh, current head of products and technology, will be leaving the company on June 3 for personal reasons and will work closely with Irving to ensure a smooth transition. Irving will assume the position on May 17.
"Blake brings to Yahoo! genuine large scale Internet expertise from a mature company known for world-class technology. In addition, Prabhakar has invaluable technological insights and expertise that I look forward to having my executive team hear more directly," said Bartz. "With leaders like Blake and Prabhakar, I am confident that we will increase technological innovation and deliver against our vision to be the center of people's online lives."
"Yahoo! has an impressive product and technology portfolio that has provided unparalleled value to its customers at scale," said Irving. "I look forward to working with the team to bring forward more unique and highly personal experiences to Yahoo! consumers, deliver on the company's promise of Science, Art and Scale to Yahoo! advertisers, and develop the amazing talent at the company so we may continue to deliver more and faster innovations to the market."
As Chief Product Officer, Irving will lead the company's products organization, which is responsible for the vision, strategy, design and development of Yahoo!'s global consumer and advertiser product portfolio.
Irving was most recently a professor at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management in Malibu, California. In his prior role as corporate vice president of the Windows Live Platform group, Irving led a team of 4,000 to build and operate Microsoft's Internet-scale services platform, advertiser and developer ecosystem. Irving also held a variety of development and general management positions at Microsoft.
Before joining Microsoft, Irving held development and product marketing management positions at Xerox Corp., Oki Electric Industry Co. Ltd. and Compaq Computer Corp. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Diego State University and a Master's degree in business administration from Pepperdine University.
Raghavan joined Yahoo! in 2005, and serves as Chief Scientist and head of Yahoo! Labs. Raghavan's research priorities include text and web mining, and algorithm design. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Raghavan was the chief technology officer at Verity and held a number of technical and managerial positions at IBM Research. He is a consulting professor of Computer Science at Stanford University and former editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Association of Computing Machinery. He has co-authored textbooks on algorithms and information retrieval, more than 100 papers and holds a dozen patents. Raghavan received his PhD from Berkeley and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, as well as a fellow of the ACM and of the IEEE.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most visited Internet destinations and a world-class online media company. Yahoo!'s vision is to be the center of people's online lives by delivering personally relevant, meaningful Internet experiences. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com or the company's blog, Yodel Anecdotal (yodel.yahoo.com).
Yahoo! is the trademark and/or registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc.
All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Yahoo! Inc.
Yahoo! Inc.Mojgan Khalili, 408-349-7482
mojgan@yahoo-inc.com
Meagan Busath,
408-349-364
8meaganb@yahoo-inc.com
Monday, April 12, 2010
Yahoo Strikes Content Deal With Reveille, Debuts Toyota-Backed Show
Yahoo Monday announced a new content production deal with Reveille -- the studio behind TV hits including "The Office" and Showtime's "The Tudors" -- and the launch of its first original daily news show, "Who Knew?" with Reveille and sponsor Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.
The new series will focus on little-known and out-of-the-ordinary facts and information behind high-profile news stories and will feature a new 90-second episode each weekday based on the most-clicked story of the day. As sponsor, Toyota will promote the launch of its redesigned Avalon sedan. The effort, geared to young baby boomers, will include branding elements such as "one comforting fact" each week about the car as part of Toyota's campaign featuring the tag line "Comfort Is Back. Travel Avalon Class."
The debut "Who Knew?" episode uses the news peg of the Shroud of Turin going on public display this weekend to provide a breezy, fast-paced video looking at quirky facts surrounding the famous relic. (Who knew formal study of the Shroud was called sindonology?)
The video is bookended by a brief "brought to you by" message for the Avalon and a 15-second post-roll ad for the car. Toyota also has a pair of display units on the right side of the "Who Knew?" page within Yahoo News that lead to interactive landing pages with more information about the new car. One launches a slow-loading video of a slick-haired emcee introducing the Avalon on stage.
The automaker will also sponsor a takeover of the Yahoo home page on April 14 and what it calls a "first-of-its kind" ad execution on the Yahoo News home page in May. The arrangement with Reveille and Toyota is part of Yahoo's broader strategy to step up original branded entertainment across its content properties in collaboration with advertisers and Hollywood talent.
Yahoo and Reveille, for instance, also recently produced "Real Life Makeover" for Wal-Mart on Yahoo Shine, the Web portal's site for women. In January, Yahoo also struck a production deal with Electus, the digital studio started by Reveille founder and former NBC entertainment co-chair Ben Silverman and Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp. No new shows have debuted on Yahoo from that partnership yet.
Last fall, Yahoo struck a deal with WPP's GroupM Entertainment to develop short-form Web series that tightly integrate brand messaging into programming. Yahoo's existing lineup of sponsored programs including "This Week In Music," "The 411 on omg"; and "Daytime in No Time," the spinoff of Yahoo's popular "Primetime in No Time," offering a video recap of the prior evening's TV shows, and "Tech Ticker," which is focused on technology and finance.
Reveille itself is no stranger to digital programming, having entered into a similar partnership in 2006 with Microsoft on "MSN Originals," a branded content initiative that has led to shows including "It's Everybody's Business with Jack and Suzy Welch," sponsored by Microsoft; "The Guy's Manual," featuring ESPN personality Kenny Mayne, sponsored by Grape Nuts; and "Five Minute Office Workout," by Kraft and starring Bob Harper from "The Biggest Loser."
For its part Yahoo, has been pleased with the response to its sponsored Web series and plans to continue expanding its original video production with advertiser backing. Video was the fastest-growing segment of online display advertising last year -- increasing 39% to $1 billion, according to data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The new series will focus on little-known and out-of-the-ordinary facts and information behind high-profile news stories and will feature a new 90-second episode each weekday based on the most-clicked story of the day. As sponsor, Toyota will promote the launch of its redesigned Avalon sedan. The effort, geared to young baby boomers, will include branding elements such as "one comforting fact" each week about the car as part of Toyota's campaign featuring the tag line "Comfort Is Back. Travel Avalon Class."
The debut "Who Knew?" episode uses the news peg of the Shroud of Turin going on public display this weekend to provide a breezy, fast-paced video looking at quirky facts surrounding the famous relic. (Who knew formal study of the Shroud was called sindonology?)
The video is bookended by a brief "brought to you by" message for the Avalon and a 15-second post-roll ad for the car. Toyota also has a pair of display units on the right side of the "Who Knew?" page within Yahoo News that lead to interactive landing pages with more information about the new car. One launches a slow-loading video of a slick-haired emcee introducing the Avalon on stage.
The automaker will also sponsor a takeover of the Yahoo home page on April 14 and what it calls a "first-of-its kind" ad execution on the Yahoo News home page in May. The arrangement with Reveille and Toyota is part of Yahoo's broader strategy to step up original branded entertainment across its content properties in collaboration with advertisers and Hollywood talent.
Yahoo and Reveille, for instance, also recently produced "Real Life Makeover" for Wal-Mart on Yahoo Shine, the Web portal's site for women. In January, Yahoo also struck a production deal with Electus, the digital studio started by Reveille founder and former NBC entertainment co-chair Ben Silverman and Barry Diller's IAC/InterActiveCorp. No new shows have debuted on Yahoo from that partnership yet.
Last fall, Yahoo struck a deal with WPP's GroupM Entertainment to develop short-form Web series that tightly integrate brand messaging into programming. Yahoo's existing lineup of sponsored programs including "This Week In Music," "The 411 on omg"; and "Daytime in No Time," the spinoff of Yahoo's popular "Primetime in No Time," offering a video recap of the prior evening's TV shows, and "Tech Ticker," which is focused on technology and finance.
Reveille itself is no stranger to digital programming, having entered into a similar partnership in 2006 with Microsoft on "MSN Originals," a branded content initiative that has led to shows including "It's Everybody's Business with Jack and Suzy Welch," sponsored by Microsoft; "The Guy's Manual," featuring ESPN personality Kenny Mayne, sponsored by Grape Nuts; and "Five Minute Office Workout," by Kraft and starring Bob Harper from "The Biggest Loser."
For its part Yahoo, has been pleased with the response to its sponsored Web series and plans to continue expanding its original video production with advertiser backing. Video was the fastest-growing segment of online display advertising last year -- increasing 39% to $1 billion, according to data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Ask, Yahoo, Microsoft Gain In Search Market Share As Google Slides
Analysts report search market performance gains from unexpected sources -- Ask and Yahoo -- this week. This represents the first time for Yahoo in more than a year.
Ask.com's market share in search rose from 3.7% in February to 3.8% in March, remaining stable for the past year, according to comScore. Core search volume rose by 8.5% from the prior year, up from 0.7% year-on-year growth in February. The network's U.S. search volume rose 8.0% year-on-year in 1Q versus 8.8% growth in the fourth quarter.
Market share varies slightly depending on the data firm. Experian Hitwise reports that Ask.com had the highest gains, rising 21% to 3.44% in March, sequentially. Yahoo Search and Bing received 15.04% and 9.62%, respectively. Yahoo rose 3% and Bing declined 1%, compared with the prior month.
Still, Ask isn't the only search engine to capture new growth. Although Barclays Capital's Douglas Anmuth says it's too early to confirm that Yahoo's share has "stabilized," the analyst remains "encouraged." Data firm comScore delivered the positive news that Yahoo inched up 0.08% in February to 16.89% of searches in March. Yahoo lost roughly 3.1% market share since last year.
Meanwhile, Yahoo did experience a setback. The Sunnyvale, Calif. company confirmed Thursday that Ari Balogh, chief technology officer and executive vice president of products, will leave the company for personal reasons. Broadpoint AmTech Analyst Ben Schachter believes Balogh, who drove product initiatives and restructuring Yahoo's infrastructure, remains instrumental in the potential turnaround for the company.
Although Balogh would not return from sabbatical in June for personal reasons, "the loss of his leadership is likely to be a blow as he was highly regarded both internally and externally," Schachter writes in a research note. "His loss is a negative for Yahoo."
Schachter has concerns about the recent loss of Yahoo employees, such as ad sales exec Joanne Bradford. He says high turnover throughout the organization makes Yahoo's turnaround more challenging.
The exodus of Yahoo execs aside, Microsoft Bing's market share rose from 11.5% to 11.7%, but the pace of its share gains have slowed, according to Schachter, citing comScore numbers. Bing's March share gain represented its lowest basis point increase since Bing was launched in June, 2009, but the bottom line is that Microsoft continues to take share, pointing to its marketing and cashback programs as having a positive impact.
It appears that Ask, Bing and Yahoo gained in March at the expense of Google. Google domestic core search market share fell slightly to 65.1% in March from 65.5% in February, according to comScore. Google grew March core search volume by 10.1% year-on-year, slightly below 14.3% growth in February. Google domestic core search volume growth of 13.6% year-on-year in 1Q is below 4Q's 19.9% year-on-year increase.
Ask.com's market share in search rose from 3.7% in February to 3.8% in March, remaining stable for the past year, according to comScore. Core search volume rose by 8.5% from the prior year, up from 0.7% year-on-year growth in February. The network's U.S. search volume rose 8.0% year-on-year in 1Q versus 8.8% growth in the fourth quarter.
Market share varies slightly depending on the data firm. Experian Hitwise reports that Ask.com had the highest gains, rising 21% to 3.44% in March, sequentially. Yahoo Search and Bing received 15.04% and 9.62%, respectively. Yahoo rose 3% and Bing declined 1%, compared with the prior month.
Still, Ask isn't the only search engine to capture new growth. Although Barclays Capital's Douglas Anmuth says it's too early to confirm that Yahoo's share has "stabilized," the analyst remains "encouraged." Data firm comScore delivered the positive news that Yahoo inched up 0.08% in February to 16.89% of searches in March. Yahoo lost roughly 3.1% market share since last year.
Meanwhile, Yahoo did experience a setback. The Sunnyvale, Calif. company confirmed Thursday that Ari Balogh, chief technology officer and executive vice president of products, will leave the company for personal reasons. Broadpoint AmTech Analyst Ben Schachter believes Balogh, who drove product initiatives and restructuring Yahoo's infrastructure, remains instrumental in the potential turnaround for the company.
Although Balogh would not return from sabbatical in June for personal reasons, "the loss of his leadership is likely to be a blow as he was highly regarded both internally and externally," Schachter writes in a research note. "His loss is a negative for Yahoo."
Schachter has concerns about the recent loss of Yahoo employees, such as ad sales exec Joanne Bradford. He says high turnover throughout the organization makes Yahoo's turnaround more challenging.
The exodus of Yahoo execs aside, Microsoft Bing's market share rose from 11.5% to 11.7%, but the pace of its share gains have slowed, according to Schachter, citing comScore numbers. Bing's March share gain represented its lowest basis point increase since Bing was launched in June, 2009, but the bottom line is that Microsoft continues to take share, pointing to its marketing and cashback programs as having a positive impact.
It appears that Ask, Bing and Yahoo gained in March at the expense of Google. Google domestic core search market share fell slightly to 65.1% in March from 65.5% in February, according to comScore. Google grew March core search volume by 10.1% year-on-year, slightly below 14.3% growth in February. Google domestic core search volume growth of 13.6% year-on-year in 1Q is below 4Q's 19.9% year-on-year increase.
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