SEM Holiday Wish List - Christine King, Senior Client Services Manager
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Written By Reprise Media | December 19, 2005 | Share This
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I was in dire need of a pick-me-up last week. Why? Because Yahoo! Search Marketing (that’s YSM for you acronym-loving-folks out there) had just rejected the listings their editorial team recommended for the 6th week in a row. Then, salvation. An interesting little email popped up in my inbox. Taking a break from my angry muttering, I read what turned out to be a very entertaining YSM Advertiser Training presentation.
Like any good work of fiction, the deck had fantastical story lines and mystical characters. Who is this “Dedicated Senior Content Specialist” they speak of? I’ve yet to benefit from the “creative optimization”, “conversion consulting,” or “keyword identification” services this specialist provides.
The part that really had me on the floor was the slide on their review process. Direct quote: 80% of submitted listings are online within 1 hour. Wait, WHAT? This was still a Yahoo! presentation, right? I actually had to read that sentence a couple of times because the claim was so surreal.
Take it from someone with a lot of experience: speed of implementation is not YSM’s claim to fame. Thanks to their confusing and inconsistent editorial process, Match Driver’s quirks and a few other various factors, launching a campaign with YSM is a little like playing the lottery. Once in awhile you’ll hit the jackpot and the campaign will be live within 2 days. But your chances of that happening are roughly the same as winning the MegaMillions drawing. We usually send in production sheets and pray for the best, left guessing how long it will take to launch, how many keywords will be approved or if our ads will even come out looking anything like we originally intended them to.
Santa: the one thing I’d like for Christmas, more than anything in the world, is for Yahoo! to make their listing implementation process simpler. The engine has high quality traffic and typically performs well. But how can my clients experience all that YSM has to offer when their ads are stuck in limbo for 6 weeks?
Topics: SEM: Paid Search |