Yahoo PPC Less is More: I think NOT!

Yahoo pay per click announces new search results pages that will translate into more clicks for your listings.

Yahoo pay-per-click will have a new look starting on January 18 2006 with shorter listings. I guess they figure less is more, but it is not. Google Adwords already is to short requiring users to click to find out what the advertiser’s web site is about only to discover after the advertiser has paid that it is not what they want. Why doesn’t Yahoo ppc and Google Adwords just let us write more.

Yahoo PPC will debut a new design that will make the search results displayed on Yahoo pay-per-click results easier for consumers to read. Yahoo PPC says their research has shown that advertisers can generally expect to see an increase in clicks, while maintaining their conversion rates. Shorter description, less information, more clicks, same conversion rate, how is that possible?

How this change to Yahoo impacts pay-per-click (PPC) listings:

Yahoo ppc will display shorter descriptions for ppc Search listings
They will automatically be shortened for you when displayed on Yahoo.

If you'd like to optimize your paid listings for Yahoo ppc, begin your description with one short sentence that includes your keyword and focuses on your most important information in the first 70 characters. Who knows where they will cut your copy off.

Over time, Yahoo ppc will fine tune the exact character count that they believe works best for advertisers and search users.Does this mean they can get more on a page?

Most of the Yahoo ppc partners, including MSN, CNN, ESPN and Infospace, will still display longer descriptions for pay-per-click search listings, though the exact length may vary from partner to partner

Yahoo Search Marketing says they are taking this step to improve the search experience for its users. For those of you who have spent hundreds of hours writing and testing those descriptions having them shortened automatically can only be a bad thing.

Gerry Grant

CEO

Search-Optimization.com

The Secrets of Successful Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Search Engine Optimization ROI
http://www.search-optimization.com/pay-per-click-marketing/ppc.htm

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