Yahoo Discontinues Paid Inclusion
On December 31, 2009, Yahoo will officially end their offering of paid inclusion advertising. This unwelcome event by the number two search provider has alarmed many in the Internet community thrusting a thorn in their side.
There is speculation among some that this move is a result of the imminent deal between Microsoft and Yahoo. Many companies have taken advantage of Yahoo’s services over the years to generate web traffic and may now need to consider paid search through pay per click (PPC) services to continue to generate traffic by the Sunnyvale, California search pioneer.
This milestone will put the nail in the coffin for an era in the search landscape. Web site owners will now be unable to pay to be included in Yahoo’s organic or natural search results now that Yahoo is closing down the avenue of Yahoo Search Submit, the program that once guaranteed inclusion in Yahoo’s search index. The page for the Yahoo’s former services now redirects the visitor to advertising.yahoo.com.
For those who took advantage of Yahoo’s inclusion programs such as Search Submit Basic, refunds are reported to be credited to customers’ accounts. Position Technologies, an Illinois company that offered support for Yahoo’s services stated, “A pro-rated refund will be provided to Yahoo! Search Submit Basic and Express advertisers for the unused portion of their annual fee in January 2010.”
Yahoo sent out the following statement in mid October:
We are committing our resources and efforts to our core areas of focus, including improving the search experience and relevancy of our ads to increase user engagement and ROI for advertisers, and as a result, have decided to exit Search Submit. We have stepped up innovation in Search Marketing, recently rolling out search retargeting, Rich Ads in Search and improved matching technology, and in Consumer Search, with enhancements like the new search results page. These enhancements deliver value, control, innovation and relevance to our advertisers, leading to increased ROI.
Yahoo! will exit Search Submit at the end of 2009. Yahoo! is providing those advertisers affected by the decision a sufficient lead time to assist in the transition. In addition, Yahoo! has recently announced a series of important enhancements to its Search advertising business and will work closely with many Search Submit advertisers to provide them with search solutions that will benefit their businesses.
How do you feel about the end of Yahoo’s paid index inclusion service? Will you take the leap and spend your advertising dollars or portion of it for Yahoo’s PPC?