You may have seen news that Google wants to serve web search results and search ads for an unspecified number of Yahoo user queries.
See the SEC filing here. What does this mean for marketers?
Reach more potential customers with AdWords
According to ComScore, 12.7% of US searches go through Yahoo.
That means AdWords could reach a significantly larger audience.
Yahoo sites are automatically added to the Google search network so that AdWords customers do not have to do anything to reach this target group.
Bing advertisers should keep their ears to the ground
Yahoo appears to be ending its partnership with Bing Ads. Either party can terminate their contract effective October 21, 2015.
This proposed deal between Yahoo and Google does not specify how much Yahoo traffic is being displayed on AdWords as opposed to Bing Ads.
51% of Yahoo search traffic continues to come from Bing and its search products, but when the deal hits and both ad platforms are in the game at the same time, Bing advertisers will keep a close eye on performance to see if certain sectors or devices are suffering .
Some sectors may offer better opportunities with AdWords
Take a look at Yahoo Everything and you will find that Yahoo has websites for a number of sectors, with a particular focus on finance and sports.
AdWords customers who want to use Yahoo Finance, MSN Money or Fantasy Football websites, among others, will be curious to see what impact this deal has on their campaigns, be it on CPC or conversion.
A study by ComScore found that searchers on the Yahoo Bing network spend 6.8% more money online than those who search on Google – an encouraging statistic.
The data analysis shown below by Google Analytics from Weiter shows the interest index for search engine users. As you can see, there are a variety of over-represented interests on Yahoo searchers, including home improvement, sports, and pets.
It should be noted that this analysis was done on website organic search referral traffic, which was mainly aggregated from B2C Google Analytics accounts, which of course may contain more accurate Google referral data.
Older, female searchers are overrepresented among Yahoo users
The two following graphics are again from the research of Further.
They suggest that advertisers targeting women over 45 may have better performance from their AdWords campaigns when such ads are actually served through Yahoo’s AdSense for search results pages.
Gemini users could be affected
Gemini is Yahoo’s current ad platform that enables the purchase of search ads on Yahoo websites.
It has generated low CPCs compared to other channels due to a lack of competition and relatively engaged users.
Check out the chart below from Shareaholic which shows how Yahoo searchers compare to others in terms of time and pages on the site, as well as bounce rate.
While Gemini isn’t as easy to manage as AdWords, marketers who are already successfully using it can be forgiven for being suspicious of what is happening to their campaign metrics.
Gemini also offers a range of product, image, and video ads. It will be interesting to see if these eventually move to AdWords.
Europe is not affected
The service agreement applies to the USA and 20 other countries, but not to the EU. So marketers who focus on Europe should pay little attention.
The reason for the exclusion of the region appears to be an EU antitrust case against Google.
In fact, the agreement still includes the clause that either party can resign if an EU proceeding materially affects this non-EU partnership between Google and Yahoo.
The deal can’t come off just yet
Google and Yahoo tried a similar deal back in 2008, but it was rejected after a cartel ruling by the Justice Department.
Regulators will be reviewing the details this time, but both parties are apparently confident that the service will continue.
If this happens, Yahoo’s revenue could grow in a timely manner
If half of Yahoo’s search ads were served through AdSense, it could increase Yahoo search revenue by about $ 200 million to $ 400 million a year.
Google pays Yahoo a percentage of the gross revenue from AFS ads displayed on Yahoo properties or affiliate websites, and Yahoo pays fees for the web and image search results displayed.
According to the Google website, AdSense for search results page publishers currently receives 51% of Google recognized earnings. It’s unclear if this will be the case for Yahoo or if they have a separate agreement.
With Yahoo down 6% year over year in the third quarter (at $ 946.9 million), the coffers could be poised for a timely spike.
For more information on the latest Google developments and best practices, visit Econsultancy’s Search Marketing topic.
