You'll be ready for the expected October move of Yahoo! Search ad serving to adCenter Last week , we completed the transition of the back-end technology for English-language Yahoo! organic search results in the U.S. and Canada. This week, advertisers can start transitioning their paid Yahoo! Search Marketing account, in anticipation of the Yahoo! ad serving transition which we expect to start mid-October.

Go wide"with a range of specific and general words and phrases Editor's Note: This is another in a series of posts we're calling "The Best of the YSM Blog." These are posts containing timeless advice and best practices that never go out of style. Even if you read it the first time, it's not a bad idea to review this information periodically to help get maximum performance from your advertising. Originally posted February 3, 2009 [Below is an excerpt from Yahoo!

It's the wonder offer that works wonders for your sales Editor's Note: This is another in a series of posts we're calling "The Best of the YSM Blog." These are posts containing timeless advice and best practices that never go out of style. Even if you read it the first time, it's not a bad idea to review this information periodically to help get maximum performance from your advertising. Originally posted February 13, 2009 When I was a kid,

Important information about the organic and paid search transition, new Yahoo! and Microsoft editorial guidelines, mobile updates and more As Yahoo! continues to work closely with Microsoft to implement the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance, we want to call out some important updates and tips to help ensure the best transition experience for you. Organic search update and tips A key aspect of the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance is the transition of Yahoo!

Yahoo! topped the FIFA World Cup online league Goal! The comScore numbers prove what Paul the Octopus could have predicted" Yahoo! Sports World Cup was the US leader in FIFA World Cup coverage for three consecutive weeks. The combination of great coverage, exclusive contributions from David Beckham , bloggers , Yahoo! Fantasy World Cup , special Yahoo! World Cup Toolbar , and the Yahoo!

Meet and greets marketers shouldn't miss We'd like to share some of the spectacular upcoming events around the globe in July, and also show you how you can find more local events and communities for Search and Social near you. We've included the Twitter pages for the events, so you can follow chatter from the event organizers even if you can't go. Hint: be sure to follow the hashtags for the events too. Social Media Marketing Conference,

3 important tasks to complete in your account Over recent weeks, Yahoo! and Microsoft teams have been meeting with advertisers to solicit feedback and understand their key questions and concerns. One piece of feedback we've frequently heard: "Give us more details!" So, in the spirit of providing more information, we'll address some of the common questions we've been getting, along with general advice to help you get ready for your transition.

5 common mistakes that can hurt your ads' performance Editor's Note: This is another in a series of posts we're calling "The Best of the YSM Blog." These are posts containing timeless advice and best practices that never go out of style. Even if you read it the first time, it's not a bad idea to review this information periodically to help get maximum performance from your advertising. Originally posted April 24,

4 ways to improve your quality index for lower cost and better placement Editor's Note: This is another in a series of posts we're calling "The Best of the YSM Blog." These are posts containing timeless advice and best practices that never go out of style. Even if you read it the first time, it's not a bad idea to review this information periodically to help get maximum performance from your advertising. Originally posted April 10,

Excluded Keywords, Switching Accounts and Downloading Specific Campaigns The latest version of Yahoo! Search Marketing Desktop launches today. You provided us with feedback during our Beta and in webinar surveys. Our product folks listened, and they thought that these new features might assist you in your attempt to be both efficient, as well as productive: Select Excluded Keywords . Let's say you're selling plasma televisions at your electronics store.

Your keyword list should range from general to specific Editor's Note: This is another in a series of posts we're calling "The Best of the YSM Blog." These are posts containing timeless advice and best practices that never go out of style. Even if you read it the first time, it's not a bad idea to review this information periodically to help get maximum performance from your advertising. Originally posted April 28, 2009 When you were a kid,

Three final insights from SMX Advanced Seattle day two Day two of SMX Advanced 2010 started off a bit sluggish.  Maybe it was the ominous clouds in the Seattle sky. Or the fact that most of search marketing's superheroes had too much, um, fun the night before at back to back networking parties.  But one word made the crowd perk up before noon: "cupcakes."  The Bing booth was handing out cupcakes to celebrate their first birthday.

Improve your site's searchability by improving your headlines You can't write online in the same way that you write a sales letter, brochure or radio script. It simply doesn't work. Being slow to recognize these differences has proved to be the undoing of many an online venture. The above is an excerpt from the book Net Words , which talks about why writing for online media should be approached differently than writing intended for offline media. To add to that,

New TV spot celebrates Yahoo's lead as the number one source for entertainment news As you may know by now, Yahoo's lead in entertainment news is second to none . Yahoo's omg !, for example, enjoys the top spot, with twice the traffic of its nearest competitor, TMZ. That's good for us and good for our advertisers who enjoy one of the most strongly engaged audiences on the Web. "Flashing Lights" 60-second television spot @ Yahoo!

5 things you should tidy up to improve account performance Editor's Note: This is the first of a series of posts we're calling "The Best of the YSM Blog." These are posts containing timeless advice and best practices that never go out of style. Even if you read it the first time, it's not a bad idea to review this information periodically to help get maximum performance from your advertising. Originally posted March 19,

The great SEO and marketing divide Fifteen years ago, advertising and marketing agencies were doing market research for their clients, crafting targeted messages, and pumping out TV commercials, radio spots, direct mail pieces, magazine ads, billboards, bus ads and the occasional animated Punch the Monkey banner ad . The primary goal of these agencies was )and still is( to gain visibility and make money for a client through various channels. At the same time,

What to expect and when to expect it as we move toward the transition to adCenter Since February , hundreds of folks at Yahoo! and Microsoft have been working diligently to bring our search alliance to life. We wanted to give you an update on our progress, and let you know what to expect in the coming months. Our top priority is to make your transition to adCenter as smooth as possible.

You can now get your account back online with a smaller payment amount Recently we lowered the amount we required advertisers to deposit in their accounts to get back online if their balance reached zero. Previously, we required an amount equal to three times the account's daily run rate )average click charges per day(. With this change, we reduced the required replenishment amount to just the daily run rate itself.

How does Yahoo! see your site, and who's linking to you? When your site has something valuable to offer, people tend to link to it. And when people are linking to a site naturally, it gives a signal to search engines that people find the site )or page( valuable. Have you ever wondered who's linking to you? With the Yahoo! Site Explorer tool, you can view the links that the Yahoo! Search engine is seeing point to your site, plus more information that Yahoo!

A new Yahoo! white paper shines light on search shift Patterns in online behavior are tending to shift away from traditional search, though user behavior shows a notable opportunity in searches for highly specific items, or "structured objects""things that include restaurants, products, cars, real-estate listings, cities, bands, sports teams, celebrities, sports players, and companies"according to a new white paper released last week by Yahoo!