14 DAY TRIAL // The Microsoft - Yahoo search deal is still being worked out, or at least portions of it still are. While the details about how the search engines will work after the merger are mostly known, for advertisers, things are trickier. Once the merger is complete, all search ads on both Bing and Yahoo Search will be managed by Microsoft’s adCenter. This means that existing Yahoo Search Marketing customers will be transitioned to the Microsoft network.
Last week, the two companies provided a clearer update on their plans. While there wasn’t too much new information, the plans were more set in stone than on previous occasions. One of the biggest concerns for advertisers and equally for Microsoft and Yahoo is how the transition to the single ad platform will affect the 2010 holiday season, one of the most important times of the year for those buying or selling ads. As such, the two companies have vowed to complete the transition before this period to ensure that there are no troubles in the most lucrative time of the year for most companies.
However, if for some reason the transition can’t be completed by that time, it will be deferred to the early 2011 period. This isn’t the first option, but it is a possibility designed as a safeguard in case of issues. Finally, existing Yahoo Search Marketing customers will get the chance to choose the period of time when they want to transition to the Microsoft platform. Towards the end of the summer, customers will have several weeks to make their choice.
Yahoo has also taken the time to answer some of the more specific questions that its ad customers are having. For example, Yahoo will allow advertisers to run campaigns for products that Microsoft currently forbids, like adult ads, but not all cases have been worked out yet. For liquor-related keywords, no decision has been made.
Another question was whether customers would be able to target Yahoo or Bing specifically and exclusively in the new platform. Yahoo says that there will be no such option, there will be no way of knowing if your ad will show up on Bing or Yahoo. Yahoo answered other questions, when possible, on the Yahoo Search Marketing blog.