Don’t recognize that Yahoo Pay-Per-Click ad as your own? You may have Yahoo’s Automatic Account Optimization program to thank for that.
Recent changes to Yahoo’s terms and conditions (sent via email to advertisers) allow Yahoo to create ads, edit keywords, and/or optimize accounts on behalf of its U.S. advertisers not bound by an Insertion Order.
In a blog post last week, Yahoo justified its opt-out program, which has caused a firestorm among advertisers and agencies. Citing the success of its program, as measured by increased numbers of ads in accounts and high acceptance rate of its proposed changes, Yahoo reasserted that the program “is intended to help raise the performance of accounts that are experiencing issues like low-quality quality scores, low lead volume or low click-through rates.”
As anyone involved in performance-based search engine marketing knows, these metrics are important, but no metric is as important as the profit generated as a result of the changes. Increased click-through rate does not equate to increased ROI or net profit. Changes that focus on the wrong metrics are sure to drive up advertising costs without an eye towards profits.
Not to mention the fact that this program can interfere with ongoing landing page, ad copy, keyword and other testing in which an advertiser may be engaged. Stories of the types of changes that have been made to optimized accounts, including introduction of a promotion code that expires, leave those of us in the industry concerned for advertisers who do not have ample time to monitor their accounts for optimization changes that may be detrimental to their business, ultimately.
Advertisers should be aware of these changes and should use hard statistics to determine whether they have a positive result. Agencies should be aware that they may not necessarily be opted out and consult with their agency reps.
