Overture System Key Words to Appear in Yahoo
As of November 15th, everyone who buys keywords using the Overture system (formerly GoTo) will also appear in Yahoo. According to a Yahoo news release, Yahoo will clearly mark which search results are paid placements through Overture, and set them in a special area on the Search results page.
What this means: If you buy paid placements through Overture, these auctioned prices will probably rise in the short term as marketers get excited about dominating Yahoo eyeballs. However, some marketers have already noted that keyword buys get lower click rates when they are clearly marked as “paid” vs. sort of appearing to be regular “pure” search results. So, watch your numbers on the back end carefully to make sure you’re not overspending on what may now be less valuable media.
Side note: Since these days many search engines don’t list you — no matter how optimized you are — unless you pay a basic site submission fee, the line between what listings are paid and which aren’t is growing very fuzzy. The fact that companies that invest in top-quality search engine optimization and positioning services get far better placement than the average site, also means this line gets fuzzy. In the end, will any listings be “pure”?
BTW: SherpaBlog reader Sanj just sent in the tip that there are some great discussions going on about the whole Yahoo/Overture deal at WebMaster World today.
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