Frequently Asked Questions

Advertising with Yahoo! Search Marketing

Is Sponsored Search right for my business?
Can I use Sponsored Search if I do not have a web site?
I don’t sell anything—is Sponsored Search still right for my business?
How much will it cost me?
Is there a minimum spending requirement, contract length or any other spending obligation?
How do I determine how much to spend?
How do I pay? How am I billed?
What happens to my deposit?
How many accounts can I open using the same credit card or PayPal account?
Where will my ads appear?
How often will my ads appear?
How is my ad’s placement determined on the page?
What will my ads look like in search results?

Is Sponsored Search right for my business?

Sponsored Search is a proven solution for driving targeted leads to all types of businesses. What makes Sponsored Search so powerful is its ability to place your ad on search results pages that are relevant to your business, allowing you to target customers who are searching for what you sell. In addition, when you advertise with Sponsored Search, you pay only when your ad is clicked, allowing you to maximize the return on your investment.

Can I use Sponsored Search if I do not have a web site?

No, all Sponsored Search advertisers must have a web site. Fortunately, Yahoo! Small Business offers a variety of solutions to help businesses get online, including free site building tools, domain name registration, web hosting and e-commerce solutions.

I don’t sell anything—is Sponsored Search still right for my business?

Sponsored Search can be effective for driving targeted leads to all types of business – from transactional sites to content-driven sites. If you’re able to place a value on a site visitor, or assess your return on your advertising investment, your business may benefit from using Sponsored Search.

How much will it cost me?

Unlike other forms of advertising that feature set pricing, Yahoo! Search Marketing allows you to determine how much you’d like to pay, so you’re in control of your costs. With Sponsored Search and Content Match, you pay only when your ad is clicked. You’ll set a bid (the maximum amount you’re willing to pay each time your ad is clicked) and an account daily spending limit to help you keep costs in check.

In addition to providing a great service for advertisers, we’re committed to providing the highest quality experience for users. Once your account is up and running, make your ads as relevant and appealing to users as possible, and you may be rewarded with better placement and lower costs.

Is there a minimum spending requirement, contract length or any other spending obligation?

There is no minimum monthly spending obligation or contract required when you advertise with Yahoo! Search Marketing. You determine how much you spend each month by setting a bid and daily spending limit and you can turn off your advertising and stop your spending at any time.

To activate your ad, you’ll need to deposit funds into your account, which will be used to pay for your initial click charges. The amount of the deposit is up to you and can be as little as $30.

How do I determine how much to spend?

If you’re not sure how much to spend, you can use the estimating tools provided during the sign up process to help determine the bid and daily spending limit that are right for you. For every bid and daily spending limit you enter, you’ll be provided with an estimate of your ad’s rank (the order in which it may appear, relative to other ads) on the results page.

In addition, you’ll also receive several 30-day estimates, including: estimated monthly impressions (number of times your ad may be shown over 30 days); estimated monthly clicks (number if times your ad may be clicked over 30 days) and estimated monthly charges (amount you can expect to spend on your ad over 30 days). Use this information to find the spending strategy that works best for you.

How do I pay? How am I billed?

Most of our advertisers have a credit card or PayPal account on file and are charged automatically whenever the account balance is low. When you sign up, your credit card or PayPal account is charged a deposit amount of your choosing (as little as $30) in order to activate your ad and pay for your initial click charges. Then, whenever your account balance is low, your credit card or PayPal account is charged again to replenish your balance. The amount you’re charged is either three times your account daily spending limit or the sum of your last three days worth of click charges, whichever is lower.

If however, you consistently spend at least $10,000 each month on your account, you may be eligible for invoice payment.

What happens to my deposit?

Your deposit is used to pay for your initial click charges. The minimum deposit required is $30.

How many accounts can I open using the same credit card or PayPal account?

There is no limit to the number of accounts an advertiser can fund with a single credit card or PayPal, account subject to availability of funds.

Where will my ads appear?

When you advertise with Yahoo! Search Marketing, your ads can appear throughout the vast Yahoo! property – the most popular destination on the web. In addition, ads may appear on our extensive network of partner sites.

How often will my ads appear?

The estimating tools provided to you within the sign up process can help you forecast how often your ads may appear, based on the settings, keywords, bid and budget you’ve chosen. Once your account is active, if you make sure that your ad is of high quality – meaning, it is highly relevant to search users and receives a high click-through rate – your ad could be displayed more frequently.

How is my ads placement determined on the page?

The location of Sponsored Search ads on a search results page varies depending on how the site has chosen to display the ads. For example, Sponsored Search ads on Yahoo.com appear at the top, bottom and right side of the search results page. Other sites may display Sponsored Search ads at the top and bottom only, depending on what that sites deems best for its users.

In terms of an ad’s rank (the order in which it is displayed relative to other ads), those with higher bids and/or those that are determined to be of higher quality are typically ranked higher. Ads with lower bids and/or are of lower quality may follow below or on subsequent pages.

What will my ads look like in search results?

While implementations may vary among Yahoo! properties and our distribution partners, ads typically consist of a clickable title, a description underneath and the URL of the advertising site. A typical listing on a Yahoo! search results page is shown below:

Billing and Payment

When do I start getting charged?
When do you bill (for prepay advertisers)?
What does it mean to prepay for Yahoo! Search Marketing advertising?
How and when do I enter and edit my billing information?
How do I view my pending charges?
How secure is my payment information?
Why am I being charged for more than my daily budget on some days?
Why was my credit card or debit card billed multiple times in one month?
What can I do if I have billing concerns or questions?
What are my payment options?
How do I choose the payment method that’s right for me?
Why was I billed after I paused or deleted my campaigns?
How do I change my credit card information?
When I signed up I had a promotional credit but I do not see it in my account. Why is this?

When do I start getting charged?

Your click charges will begin accruing once your initial deposit has been processed and your account is eligible to receive impressions and clicks.

When do you bill (for prepay advertisers)?

The date on which your credit card is charged is dependent on your daily budget, automatic charge amount and the spend rate on your account.

What does it mean to prepay for Yahoo! Search Marketing advertising?

An account under the prepay plan must maintain a minimum account balance to continue to have its ads displayed.

How and when do I enter and edit my billing information?

Contact information, such as billing address and your default credit card, can be updated on the Account Summary page located on the Administration tab. For your protection, to disable a credit card we require advertisers to contact our Customer Solutions department.

How do I view my pending charges?

You can view your pending charges by viewing the Billing Transaction Detail report, located under the Reports tab.

How secure is my payment information?

Yahoo! maintains very strict standards for sensitive information such as credit card and taxpayer ID info. This information is encrypted in our database, and only the last four digits of your credit card are visible in both our internal and external systems.

Why am I being charged for more than my daily budget on some days?

Your automatic charge amount is different than your daily budget amount. When an account balance is low, we automatically charge the credit card for the deposit amount specified during the account sign-up, which may exceed your daily budget amount (e.g., a daily budget might be $10, while the deposit amount of $100 could be charged every ten days or so).

Why was my credit card or debit card billed multiple times in one month?

Your charge frequency is dependent on your daily budget, automatic charge amount and the spend rate on your account.

What can I do if I have billing concerns or questions?

If you have any questions about billing, we encourage you to contact our Customer Solutions by submitting a support request through the form found in your account by clicking on the Customer Support link in the top right corner of your account pages.

What are my payment options?

All pre-pay advertisers must provide a credit card at sign-up to use the default daily budget/non-stop payment plan. Additionally, advertisers can make on-demand payments via credit card, check or wire transfer.

How do I choose the payment method that’s right for me?

If you wish to use the default daily budget/non-stop payment plan, you must provide a credit card at sign-up. Additionally, advertisers can make on-demand payments via credit card, check or wire transfer.

Why was I billed after I paused or deleted my campaigns?

This may be due to the time required to process your request to turn off the account. Our systems also require a minimum balance be maintained to continue displaying your ads.

How do I change my credit card information?

Your contact information, such as billing address, can be updated on the Account Summary page, which is located on the Administration tab. For your protection, to change a credit card associated with a non-stop payment plan, we require that you contact our Customer Solutions department.

When I signed up I had a promotional credit but I do not see it in my account. Why is this?

If you used a promotion code during sign-up, the amount of your sign-up credit will display below your Deposit Amount. Please allow 72 hours for your credit to be processed and reflected in your account.

Getting Started

How do I begin?
What are the steps for creating an account?
What basic terminology should I know?
Where can I learn how to use/manage my Yahoo! Search Marketing account?
Can I import third-party campaigns into my Yahoo! Sponsored Search account
I had a previous account with Overture/Yahoo! Search Marketing. Should I open a new account?
I had a Yahoo! Local Sponsored Search account--should I now open a Yahoo! Sponsored Search account?
What is Assisted Setup?
How do I advertise internationally?

How do I begin?

Before you open an account, make sure you have given some thought to these important questions about your business and the customers you want to reach:

What is your business?
What is your target audience?
What do you want to sell or promote?
What do you want your site visitors to do?
What results would you like to see?
When you are confident about these answers, then visit http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/srch/choose.php and follow the instructions to get your ads online!

What are the steps for creating an account?

There are 5 basic steps to getting your campaign up and running with Sponsored Search:

Target prospective customers by location. Geo-Targeting allows you to target your ad to prospective customers located or interested in particular geographic areas within the market selected for your account. Example: If your business sells real estate within the state of California and you select California as a geo-targeted region, your ads will be shown to potential customers located in California, as well as to search users that may be located outside of California but enter search terms such as "California Real Estate."
Select keywords. You select the keywords that best describe your products and services. Once your account is active your ad may be displayed for searches that are relevant to your keywords.
Set pricing and budget. Decide the maximum amount you would like to spend each day, as well as the maximum you are willing to pay each time your ad is clicked. You determine your limits and you can change them any time once your account is active, making Sponsored Search an affordable, flexible advertising option.
Write the ad copy for your ad. Your ad is comprised of a title and description that describe your site and what you have to offer, as well as a URL that links to your site. Effective ads are short, factual and objectively written. Titles may be up to 40 characters long and descriptions up to 70 characters.
Review your ad and activate your account. After you review your ad and provide your contact and billing information, you’ll be on your way to receiving targeted leads from Yahoo! and our vast network of partner sites.

What basic terminology should I know?

We offer a glossary of terms here, although it’s not necessary to know everything about search marketing before opening your account. Most advertisers find that they can best learn about Sponsored Search by launching a few campaigns and picking up expertise as they go.

Where can I learn how to use/manage my Yahoo! Search Marketing account?

Yahoo! Search Marketing provides advertisers with a comprehensive Help Center, that provides helpful tutorials, FAQs, articles, step-by-step instruction and much more to help make the most of your budget.

Can I import third-party campaigns into my Yahoo! Sponsored Search account?

Yes. Once your account is active you may import campaigns from other search marketing providers.

I had a previous account with Overture/Yahoo! Search Marketing. Should I open a new account?

If you had any click activity in the last 13 months, we should still have your account information in our systems. To save you time and effort, we suggest that you log in under your former user name to resume using your account. If it has been longer than 13 months since you had any click activity in the account, it is possible that we still have your account information in our systems. Please attempt to log in under your former user name, and if that does not work or you cannot remember your log-in information, please contact our customer service department at 866-YAHOO-SM.

I had a Yahoo! Local Sponsored Search account--should I now open a Yahoo! Sponsored Search account?

Yahoo! Local Sponsored Search accounts were migrated over to our current platform when it launched in 2007, and your account information and listings detail were retained.

With the introduction of the geo-targeting feature in our current platform, all Local Sponsored Search advertisers have been transitioned to one consolidated Sponsored Search account, and your Local Sponsored Search account has been deactivated. All of your titles and descriptions, bids, geographic targeting information and other account data have been automatically transferred to the new system. Your username and password is the same as before. Local advertisers who do not already have a web site will be required to have one to continue using Yahoo! Sponsored Search.

What is Assisted Setup?

With Assisted Set-Up, Yahoo! Search Marketing can help create a Sponsored Search campaign for you customized to your business goals and budget. We will help choose relevant keywords, write ads and suggest maximum bid amounts that work within your budget. You can expect to receive your proposed campaign within 2 to 5 business days, and we will contact you to discuss it in detail. This is a one-time set-up service to provide you with a strong foundation from which to manage your account and from which to model future campaigns. There is a fee of $199 associated with this service, and a minimum budget of $1,000/month to qualify.

To get started with assisted setup, call (866) 310-6837. Our hours of operation are Mon-Fri 6am-6pm (PT).

How do I advertise internationally?

We connect businesses and customers in markets around the world. Discover our international search advertising products by clicking here.

Account Administration and Preferences

How do I edit or update my account?
How do I contact a Yahoo! representative?
How do I close my account?
How do I view or update my email and password?
How do I reactivate my account?
What if I am automatically logged out of my account?
How can I set my account status?
How can I add or edit my display URL?
What is the Blocked Continent feature? How do I add or edit it?
How do I view or edit my account's daily spending limit?
How do I view or edit the users who have access to my account?
How can I view or edit my account’s tactic settings?
What is the maximum number of users I can allow to access my account?
How do I add a user?
How do I remove a user?
How do I reset a user’s password?
How do I search for a particular user from my users’ list?
What is “Yahoo! Marketing Solutions”?
I forgot my password. What should I do?

How do I edit or update my account?

To edit or update your account information, click on the Administration tab, where you will find all the information relevant to your account. If you need to edit your email address or password information, click on the Preferences link located at the top of the page.

How do I contact a Yahoo! Representative?

Click on the Customer Support link located in the top right-hand corner of the page. This will take you to the Customer Support form, which allows you to pose a question to a Yahoo! customer service representative.

How do I close my account?

To close your account, click the Customer Support link located in the top right-hand corner of the page. This will take you to the Customer Support form, in which you can request closure of your account by a customer solutions rep.

How do I view or update my email and password?

Click on the Preferences link located at the top of the page. This will take you to a page where you can view and/or update the email address you have on file, as well as change your password.

How do I reactivate my account?

Please contact our Customer Solutions department by clicking on the Customer Support link located in the top right-hand corner of the page. This will take you to the Customer Support form, which will allow you to request a reactivation of your account by a customer solutions rep.

What if I am automatically logged out of my account?

It just means that, for your protection, we’ve logged out your account because the time limit we allow with no activity has been exceeded. Please log back in to your account to manage your account.

How can I set my account status?

To set your account status, click the Administration tab. On the Account Summary page, click the Edit button in the Account General Information box, then turn your account status on or off as needed.

How can I add or edit my display URL?

To add or edit the display URL for your account, go to the Administration tab. On the Account Summary page, click the Edit button in the Account General Information box. This will take you to a page where you can add or edit the display URL for your account.

What is the Blocked Continent feature? How do I add or edit it?

The Blocked Continent feature allows you to select the continents from which you do not want traffic. To add or delete a continent from this feature, click the Administration tab. On the Account Summary page, click the edit button in the Account General Information box, then select your Blocked Continent preferences.

How do I view or edit my account's daily spending limit?

To view or edit your account daily spending limit, click the Administration tab. On the Account Summary page, click the Edit button in the Account Daily Spending Limit box, then view or edit your account’s daily spending limit as needed.

How do I view or edit the users who have access to my account?

Click the Administration tab, and then click Master Account Users. You can then view the users who have access to your account, and add users to your account. To delete a user from your account, click on the user name and remove that user from your account as needed.

How can I view or edit my account’s tactic settings?

Click the Administration tab, then view or edit your account’s tactic settings on the Account Summary page.

What is the maximum number of users I can allow to access my account?

The number of users you can allow on your account is unlimited.

How do I add a user?

Click the Administration tab, then the Master Account Users link. You can then view the users who have access to your account, and add users to your account.

How do I remove a user?

Click the Administration tab, then the Master Account Users link. You can then view the users who have access to your account. To delete a user from your account, click on the user name and remove that user from your account.

How do I reset a user’s password?

Account Administrators and Account Managers can change other users passwords by going to the Master Account Users page in the Administration tab. Click the appropriate username to view the User Details page, then click the Reset Password link in the upper right of the panel.

How do I search for a particular user from my users’ list?

Click the "Administration" tab, then the "Master Account Users" link. You can then view the users who have access to your account, and use the search function to find a particular user associated with your account.

What is “Yahoo! Marketing Solutions”?

The Yahoo! Marketing Solutions center is your account management application. It contains all of your campaigns, as well as account data. You can access the application at http://marketingsolutions.yahoo.com

I forgot my password. What should I do?

To obtain your forgotten or lost password, click the Forgot Your Password link on the account login page.

You will be prompted to enter your Username and will be contacted via email with instructions for resetting your password.

Campaigns

What is a campaign?
How do I delete a campaign?
How is a campaign structured?
How should I set up my campaigns?
How do I create a new campaign?
Will my campaign start working immediately after being created?
Can I move campaigns between accounts?
How do I target my campaign to a certain geographic area?
How do I view my campaign's details?
What is the Watch List status? How do I add my campaigns to the watch list?
What are tactic settings? How do I set or edit my campaign tactics?
Where can I see my campaign information?
How do I download data from my campaigns?
How do I set a daily budget for my campaign?
How do I schedule a start date and end date for my campaign?
How do I restart a campaign that has ended?
What time zone is the campaign scheduling based on?
How do I change the name of my campaign?

What is a campaign?

A campaign contains a collection of one or more ad groups, which have the same budget and schedule.

Campaigns are typically created to achieve a specific marketing goal (for example, a summer clearance campaign, a new product launch campaign, or a campaign that targets customers in a specific geographic location).

How do I delete a campaign?

Once a campaign is deleted, it cannot be restored to active status. If you delete a campaign, its ads are no longer active, but you can view the campaign (and all its ad groups, etc.) as it was when it was deleted for up to 90 days. You cannot restart a campaign that has been deleted. Deleted campaigns do not count against the campaign limit for your account.

Rather than deleting a campaign, consider pausing it.

To delete a campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Place a check mark next to the campaign or campaigns you wish to delete.
Click the Delete button at the top of the list of campaigns to delete all selected campaigns.

How is a campaign structured?

A campaign is made up of one or more ad groups that share the same budget and schedule . Typically, campaigns are created to achieve a marketing goal (for example, a summer clearance campaign, a new product launch campaign, or a campaign that targets customers in a specific geographic location).

To learn more about how campaigns are structured, please view Creating and Working with Campaigns.

How should I set up my campaigns?

You should consider setting up your campaigns so that they share a similar marketing or business goal (for example, a summer clearance campaign, a new product launch campaign, or a campaign that targets customers in a specific geographic location). This will make it easy for you to manage each of your campaigns to accomplish specific objectives.

How do I create a new campaign?

To create a new campaign, follow these steps:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Select “+ Campaign.”
Click the “Get Started” button to create a campaign.

How many campaigns can I create?

In general, an account can have 20 campaigns.

Will my campaign start working immediately after being created?

Most campaigns go online shortly after submission -- usually within minutes. However, keywords and ads related to a campaign are subject to editorial review. A keyword or ad containing sensitive content (such as ads for online pharmacies, or adult content) could require additional time for review and processing.

Can I move campaigns between accounts?

You can, if both accounts are viewable on the dashboard (i.e., both accounts are accessible under the same log-in).

How do I target my campaign to a certain geographic area?

You can target a campaign to specific geographic areas by using the geo-targeting feature. Geo-targeting allows you to target your ads to potential customers located or interested in specific geographic areas within the market selected for your account.¹

For example, if you sell real estate in California and you select California as a geo-targeted region, your ads will be shown to potential customers located in California as well as to potential customers who may be located outside California, but who searched for terms such as “California real estate.”

You specify geo-targeting when you create a campaign, but you can change it later. You can also geo-target at the ad group level.

To change geo-targeting for a campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click the Campaign Settings link and select the edit button in the right corner of the Geo-Targeting panel. The Campaign Geo-Targeting page opens.
You have the following targeting options:

Target the entire market—United States and Canada.
Target a specific country—United States OR Canada
Target by State/Province/Territory
Target by City
Target by DMA® and surrounding Area.
Target by zip/postal code

¹Geo-targeting accuracy is not guaranteed, and may vary depending on the level of targeting selected, as well as other factors.

How do I view my campaign's details?

To view campaign details:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
(Optional) For more information about the campaign, click the Campaign Settings link.

¹Geo-targeting accuracy is not guaranteed, and may vary depending on the level of targeting selected, as well as other factors.

What is the Watch List status? How do I add my campaigns to the watch list?

A watch list--which appears on the Dashboard--displays the campaigns, ad groups, and keywords that you selected for monitoring.

To add a campaign to your watch list:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Select a campaign by clicking on the check box next to its name.
Click the Edit Watch List button.

What are tactic settings? How do I set or edit my campaign tactics?

Tactic settings specify the method used for distributing ads--Sponsored Search or Content Match. Sponsored Search displays ads for related search queries. Content Match helps your ads appear for a broader range of content throughout the Yahoo! distribution network.

To set or edit the tactic settings related to a campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click the Campaign Settings link, and then the edit button in the right corner of the Tactic Settings panel.
To turn Sponsored Search or Content Match on or off, select the setting from the corresponding dropdown list.

Where can I see my campaign information?

You can view the ad groups related to your campaign and their corresponding metrics on the Campaign Details page. You can also edit campaign settings, ad group bids and status, campaign and/or ad group targeting options, as well as set optimization for ads.

To get information for a campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
(Optional) For more information about the campaign, click the Campaign Settings link.

How do I download data from my campaigns?

You can download campaign data in either XML format in an MS Excel 2003 spreadsheet or CSV (comma-separated values) format.

To download the data from multiple campaigns:

Click the Campaigns tab.
(Optional) If you want data for selected campaigns only (such as those with a cost of more than $200 over the last month), use the search feature to find campaigns meeting your criteria. Data will be downloaded for all campaigns listed on this page.
Click Download Campaigns in the upper right of the page.

To download the data from one campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click Download Campaign in the upper right of the page.

How do I set a daily budget for my campaign?

You can specify the maximum you would like to spend on your campaign each day.¹

To set a budget for a campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click the Campaign Settings button in the upper right of the page.
In the Campaign Budget and Schedule panel, click the Edit button.

How do I schedule a start date and end date for my campaign?

You can schedule a start date and end date for a campaign. If the campaign is ongoing, you can specify that it has no end date. You can also schedule a start time and end time for your campaign using ad scheduling. To learn more about Ad Scheduling, click here.

To schedule a start and end date for a campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Do either of the following:

Click a date in the Performance panel.
Click the Campaign Settings link. In the Campaign Budget and Schedule panel, click the Edit button. The Campaign Budget and Schedule page opens.

In the Schedule Your Campaign panel, click the calendar icons to select a new start and/or end date. To run a campaign indefinitely, click No End Date.

To learn more about scheduling your campaign, please view the Changing Campaign Settings article.

How do I restart a campaign that has ended?

You can restart a campaign that has reached its scheduled end date by changing the end date to a date in the future.

To restart a campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click the end date shown in the Performance panel. The Campaign Budget and Schedule page opens.
In the Schedule Your Campaign panel, select a new start date.

What time zone is the campaign scheduling based on?

The campaign schedule is based on the time zone selected for the master account. A scheduled campaign will become active at midnight (00:00h) on the selected start date. If an end date is specified, the campaign will become inactive at 23:59h on the end date.

How do I change the name of my campaign?

To change the name of a campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click the Campaign Settings link. The Campaign Settings page opens.
In the Campaign General Information panel, click the Edit button. The Campaign General Information page opens.
In the Campaign Name field, enter a new name for the campaign.

To learn more, please view Campaign Settings.

Audience Targeting

Geo-targeting

How does geo-targeting work?
How does using geo-targeting affect my account?
At what levels can you target when using geo-targeting?
Why should I use geo-targeting?
What is the default geo-targeting setting for existing campaigns?
Can I set geo-targeting at the ad group level?
Can I get reporting that is based on my geo-targeting settings?
Can I bulk upload zip codes in geo-targeting?
Do your forecasting tools provide estimates based on geographical location?
Where in the UI can I find these new ways to target?
What is country-level targeting?
What is the benefit of country-level targeting if I have already targeted all 50 states?
What percent of traffic will I lose by opting out of Canada?
Are there any drawbacks to targeting below the DMA level?
What’s the difference between city and zip code targeting?
Why would I use zip code or city targeting instead of targeting by DMA?
What is a DMA?
I have a small start-up service business--how can I just target my local neighborhood?
I put in three zip codes to target and I get a message saying to expect very little traffic. What do I do now?
Why would targeting by city benefit me??
I set up geo-targeting when I first signed up. How can I make changes to my settings and use these new features?
What is the maximum number of locations that may be selected per campaign?
Can I receive location-specific information from the geo-targeting reports if I am not currently opted into geo-targeting?
For what percent of users does Yahoo! have location information for?
How much of a premium should I place on the bids for my desired geo-targeted areas to get top placement in search results?
How will I benefit from adding a premium to my bids for certain geographical areas?
What is a geo label?
When are geo labels displayed?
How can I opt into geo labels?
Can I opt out of geo labels?
What is the difference between a geo targeted ad and a geo-modified ad?
What are the intended benefits of displaying geo labels?
Why is the location label different than where my business is located?

How does geo-targeting work?

Geo-targeting allows Yahoo! Search Marketing advertisers to target their ads to potential customers located or interested in particular geographic areas within the market selected for an account. It can consider a number of factors, such as the user’s search query or Internet Protocol (IP) address and other user information, to determine when to display your geo-targeted ads.

Example: If your business sells real estate within the state of California and you select California as a geo-targeted region, your ads may be shown to potential customers located in California, as well as to search users who may be located outside of California but enter search terms such as “California Real Estate.”

How does using geo-targeting affect my account?

Using geo-targeting can help increase your return-on-investment, because it is designed to enable you to specifically target only those areas in which you wish to market your products or services. This is especially beneficial to businesses that sell their products or services only to their local vicinities.

At what levels can you target when using geo-targeting?

Geo-targeting allows advertisers to target at country, state, DMA, city or zip code levels.

Why should I use geo-targeting?

Using geo-targeting allows you to better target your customers and control your advertising costs. It also allows you to tailor your ads to best communicate with customers in particular geographic areas. Geo-targeting allows businesses with locations in two or more cities to tailor their campaigns specifically for each location. It also allows businesses that only serve a particular area to limit the distribution of their ads to customers that are most geographically relevant.

What is the default geo-targeting setting for existing campaigns?

The default geo-targeting setting is Entire Market, which can display your ads to all users, regardless of geographic location.

Can I set geo-targeting at the ad group level?

Yes, you can set geo-targeting at both the ad group and campaign levels.

Can I get reporting that is based on my geo-targeting settings?

Yes, we do offer a report, “Performance by Geographic Location,” that provides data broken out by the geographic locations you have selected. Please note that data will not populate this report if you are not geo-targeting specific regions.

Can I bulk upload for zip codes in geo-targeting?

Yes, with the recent enhancements to geo-targeting you can specify a geographical area as small as a zip code in which to direct your ads to users in the “bulk” function within the geo-targeting UI.

Do your forecasting tools provide estimates based on geographical location?

Yes, the forecasting tools in your account interface provide traffic estimates based on the geographical targeting criteria you have selected, for both Sponsored Search and Content Match.

Where in my account can I change my geo-targeting settings?

You can change your campaign geo-targeting settings in the Sponsored Search interface by following these steps:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Choose a campaign.
Click the Campaign Settings link.
Locate the Targeting panel.
Ensure you’ve selected the Campaign radio button under the Geo-targeting section.
Click the Edit button.
Select your target area.

To change your ad group geo-targeting settings in the Sponsored Search interface by following these steps:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Choose the campaign containing the ad group you wish to change.
Choose the ad group.
Click the Ad Group Settings link.
Locate the Targeting panel.
Ensure you’ve selected the Ad Group radio button under the Geo-targeting section.
Click the Edit button.
Select your target area.

What is country-level targeting?

Country-level targeting enables you to geo-target your ads to audiences that our systems identify as originating from a particular country, regardless of any state or province identification.

What is the benefit of country-level targeting if I have already targeted all 50 states?

Prior to these enhancements, an advertiser wanting to target all 50 United States would have to select “Entire Market,” then de-select all Canadian provinces. However, due to the nature of IP data, this could result in loss of U.S. traffic eligible for country-level targeting but not eligible for state-level targeting.

Now that we offer true country-level targeting, if you select the United States, you will be eligible to receive all traffic from users identified as originating from the U.S., regardless of state identification, or the lack thereof.

What percent of traffic will I lose by opting out of Canada?

If you have been having your ads being shown to “Entire Market,” you may lose some traffic originating from Canada. That percentage of traffic varies daily, depending on the total users online. We suggest that you test your campaign by including and removing Canada from your geo-targeting selection to see how the results impact your campaign, or you may simply choose to include Canada if you wish to sell to residents of that country.

Are there any drawbacks to targeting below the DMA level?

This depends on your campaign or ad group's objectives. If you want to convey the message to the entire DMA, you are better off targeting at the DMA level. If you set your geo-targeting more precisely (at the city or zip code level) for a subset of users in a given DMA, your ads may be seen by a smaller pool of users, and you may receive fewer total clicks. However, the click-through rate from these local users can be higher, because your ads may be more locally relevant to those targeted users.

What’s the difference between city and zip code targeting?

Targeting by city means just that: Your ads will be targeted toward users within the boundaries of that particular city.

Since most medium- to large-size cities have more than one zip code, you now have the capability to specifically target only a portion of a particular city through zip code targeting. Note: Targeting by zip code can dramatically reduce the number of search users who will see your ad. Therefore, if you find that your targeting strategy includes almost all zip codes in a certain city, you may be better off targeting by city to expose your ads to more users.

Why would I use zip code or city targeting instead of targeting by DMA?

Using zip code or city targeting can provide more targeting precision in your Sponsored Search and Content Match campaigns, enabling you to market to a very specific portion of a large metropolitan area. This is ideal for businesses that either operate solely in certain locations, or want to deliver tailored messages to audiences in different locations.

What is a DMA?

DMA® is a registered trademark of Nielsen Media Research, Inc. and stands for “Designated Marketing Area.” A DMA® is a media region that is usually associated with a metropolitan area, potentially containing multiple cities. The clusters are specific regions within a state that are based on Nielsen rating standards. For example, “SF Bay Area” is a DMA that encompasses San Francisco and the cities around the San Francisco Bay, including those in the Silicon Valley.

I have a small start-up service business--how can I just target my local neighborhood?

You can certainly take advantage of the zip code targeting feature that we will offer with this release. Given the nature of IP data, however; traffic at zip code level may not be significant unless you choose a large number of zip codes. To maximize your reach, we suggest that you start planning your advertising campaign by targeting the cities in which your business operates. You can always set daily campaign budget to help control the spending and revise these targeting parameters later on, based on the reports of ad performance by locations.

I put in three zip codes to target and I get a message saying to expect very little traffic. What do I do now?

Our robust targeting technology can use both IP address and other known geographical identification techniques. However, selecting a specific zip code to target can result in very little traffic, because it is much more difficult to pinpoint an individual user in a specific zip code. Therefore, if you are concerned about receiving too little traffic through zip code targeting, we recommend targeting at the city level instead, or select ten or more zip codes (depending on the potential online population density of your neighborhood).

Why would targeting by city benefit me?

Using city-level targeting can provide more precision in your Sponsored Search and Content Match campaigns, enabling you to market to specific subsets of a large metropolitan area that may cover areas that are too far for you to service.

I set up geo-targeting when I first signed up. How can make changes to my settings and use these new features?

You can change your campaign geo-targeting settings in the Sponsored Search interface by following these steps:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Choose a campaign.
Click the Campaign Settings link.
Locate the Targeting panel.
Ensure you’ve selected the Campaign radio button under the Geo-targeting section.
Click the Edit button.
Select your target area.

To change your ad group geo-targeting settings in the Sponsored Search interface by following these steps:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Choose the campaign containing the ad group you wish to change.
Choose the ad group.
Click the Ad Group Settings link.
Locate the Targeting panel.
Ensure you’ve selected the Ad Group radio button under the Geo-targeting section.
Click the Edit button.
Select your target area.

What is the maximum number of locations that may be selected per campaign?

The maximum number of targetable areas is 250 per campaign. For example, you may target up to 250 cities in your campaign, or up to 250 unique zip codes.

Can I receive location-specific information from the geo-targeting reports if I am not currently opted into geo-targeting?

No, you must select your geo-targeting criteria in a campaign to receive reporting that is broken out with location-specific results.

For what percent of users does Yahoo! have location information for?

This percentage varies almost daily, depending on the user mix and information available to us on that given day. Please note that we employ a number of methods to locate users, and we generally have geographic identifiers for a high number of our users.

Although data on the total number of targetable impressions is not available with this release, we expect to make that data available in near future.

How much of a premium should I place on the bids for my desired geo-targeted areas to get top placement in search results?

The premium percentage placed on certain geographic criteria will vary from advertiser to advertiser, so we can’t offer a specific recommendation on how much of a premium to add. You should use the information provided in the forecasting section of your campaign pages as a guide in determining your bid premiums. As always, the information provided by our forecasting tool is an estimate only and not a guarantee, and is intended to provide you with guidance in making decisions regarding your account.

We encourage you to test out different premium bid amounts and closely monitor your results to ensure that they meet your business objectives.

How will I benefit from adding a premium to my bids for certain geographical areas?

Adding a premium to your bids to more precisely target users located or interested in or near a specific ZIP Code can help increase your return-on-investment from your advertising spend.

What is a geo label?

Yahoo! Search Marketing allows advertisers to geographically target their ads to potential customers located in or interested in particular geographic areas. A geographic label (geo label) at the bottom of the ad below the ad URL displays the location the advertiser serves, based on the advertiser’s geo-targeting selection. Geo labels may be displayed for certain ads — typically for inherently local terms such as “locksmith” or “dentist” — that are geotargeted at the state, DMA or city level.

Below is an example of a geo label displayed for an ad targeted to the Los Angeles DMA:

When are geo labels displayed?

When a user is searching for a product or service that you are offering, and he either appears to be located in or expresses interest in the location you are geo targeting, Yahoo! will use a geo label to identify the location your ad is serving to the user. Geo labels may be displayed for certain ads — typically for inherently local terms such as “locksmith” or “dentist” — that are geotargeted at the state, DMA, or city level.

How can I opt into geo labels?

You do not need to change your campaign or ad group settings to take advantage of this feature. Yahoo! may display geo labels for geotargeted ads at the state, DMA, or city level that have inherently local bidded terms (such as dentist, pizza, mechanic, etc).

Can I opt out of geo labels?

No. Geo labels are intended to enhance our ecosystem by helping to increase the relevance of your ad.

What is the difference between a geo targeted ad and a geo-modified ad?

A geographically targeted ad typically has bidded terms that don’t have the location in the phrase (such as photography, locksmith, insurance) but are targeted to specific locations. A geo-modified ad has a location name incorporated into the bidded term (such as Los Angeles photography, Houston locksmith, California insurance). Geo labels appear only for geo-targeted ads, which means the advertiser may have chosen a general term such as “photography” and uses the geo-targeting feature to specifically target Los Angeles.

What are the intended benefits of displaying geo labels?

Geo labels are designed to help advertisers inform the user of the location their product or service is available in, and helps the user to select the most relevant ad for their search. As a result, we hope to provide advertisers with more of the traffic that they are trying to target, and provide better conversion rates.

Why is the location label different than where my business is located?

A geo label displayed below the ad copy reflects the area targeted by the advertiser, as well as the user’s physical location or the location the user is searching for (which is entered in a search query). The geo label may not necessarily be the physical location of the advertiser. Therefore, there is a possibility that the user may see a geo label that is different from where your business is located.

For example, a dentist located in San Jose has chosen to geographically target San Jose, Mountain View and Sunnyvale. The dentist’s ads may be shown, for example: 1) To users who simply search for “Dentist” and are located in any of the areas the advertiser targeted, or 2) To users who search for “San Jose Dentist,” “Mountain View Dentist,” or “Sunnyvale Dentist.” In either of the two cases above, the user may see a relevant geo label displaying the advertiser’s targeted location: San Jose, Mountain View or Sunnyvale.

Demographic Bidding and Bid Adjustments

What are bid adjustments?
How do bid adjustments affect my account?
How should I use demographic bid adjustments?
How do I set up demographic bidding?
What demographic categories are available?
How does Yahoo! get the user information needed to make demographic bidding work?
How much of a premium should I place on my desired demographics to get top placement in search results?
Will using demographic bidding affect my click volume?
Can I use bid adjustments to filter out certain types of users?
How will I know how many impressions/clicks to expect for a certain demographic?
Will my reports break out performance by certain demographic groups?
Do demographic bid adjustments apply to both Sponsored Search and Content Match?
Are bid adjustments available at the campaign and ad group level?
Does it make more sense to target at the campaign or ad group level?
How can I ensure that my ads appear near the top of search results displayed to my targeted demographic groups?
Is there a way I can set up my ads to appear only to a certain gender and/or certain age range(s)?
How is my bid premium determined if the search user matches multiple desired demographic categories?
What is the default bid adjustments setting?
If I want to create multiple campaigns/ad groups using the same keywords but different targeting settings, will this increase my costs and/or minimum bid requirements?
If other advertisers are using bid adjustments and I’m not, will this increase my minimum bid requirements?

What are bid adjustments?

Bid adjustments, a new feature available to all Yahoo! Sponsored Search advertisers, allows you to specify a premium bid amount for desired audience segments. For example, if the target prospect group for your particular product or service is women age 18 to 34, you can add a premium to your max bid that can help increase the frequency and position of ads displayed to users matching that criteria.

How do bid adjustments affect my account?

Bid adjustments enable advertisers to manage pricing on their traffic and potentially increase their ROI.

How should I use demographic bid adjustments?

If you have certain demographic segments that are your most desirable target audience, use bid adjustments to add a premium to the amount you’re willing to pay to acquire the click of users in those segments. For example, if the target prospect group for your particular product or service is women age 18 to 34, you can add a premium to your bid for clicks coming from prospects matching those criteria. By doing so, you can spend a greater percentage of your advertising budget on the users who matter most to your business.

How do I set up demographic bidding?

To select the demographic segments you wish to target, follow these steps:

Go to the Settings page at either the campaign or ad group level.
Click the “Edit” button to the right of the Demographic Bidding label.
Click the “Adjust Bid” button to the right of the gender or age group to which you wish to add a premium bid.
In the overlay window, enter either a percentage or a dollar amount that you wish to allow the maximum bid to exceed for that gender or age group.
Click the “Apply” button within the overlay window.
Click the “Save” button on the Demographic Bidding page when all changes have been submitted.

What demographic categories are available?

Advertisers can select to target either male or female prospects. In selecting target age groups, you can choose from the following:

18 to 24
25 to 29
30 to 34
35 to 39
40 to 44
45 to 49
50 to 54
55 to 59
60 to 64
65+

You can also choose to exclude users 17 and younger from viewing your ads.

How does Yahoo! get the user information needed to make demographic bidding work?

By leveraging anonymous and aggregated information from Yahoo!’s large user population, we attempt to determine the age and gender of individual users who are viewing your ads.

How much of a premium should I place on my desired demographics to get top placement in search results?

The premium percentage placed on certain demographics will vary from advertiser to advertiser, so we can’t offer a specific recommendation on how much of a premium to add. You should use the information provided in the forecasting section of your campaign and ad group pages as a guide in determining your bid premiums. As always, the information provided by our forecasting tool is an estimate only and not a guarantee, and is intended to provide you with guidance in making decisions regarding your account.

We encourage you to test out different premium bid amounts and closely monitor your results to ensure that they meet your business objectives.

Will using demographic bidding affect my click volume?

Whether your click/impression volume changes depends on the actions you take in your account. For example, if you add premium bid amounts to a number of demographic categories, your click/impression volume for those ad groups/campaigns may increase because your ads are displayed in more prominent positions. We encourage you to review and experiment with flexible bidding, and closely monitor your results to ensure that they meet your business objectives.

Can I use bid adjustments to filter out certain types of users?

Only users 17 years and younger can be filtered out using bid adjustments. However, you may be able to reduce the amount of traffic you receive from other undesirable demographic categories by adding premiums to your bids for desired demographic groups.

How will I know how many impressions/clicks to expect for a certain demographic?

As you make selections in your account regarding bid adjustments, our forecasting tools will provide information as to the number of clicks and impressions you might expect targeting different demographic groups. As always, the information provided by our forecasting tool is an estimate only and not a guarantee, and is intended to provide you with guidance in making decisions regarding your account.

Will my reports break out performance by certain demographic groups?

When you click on the “Demographic Bidding” icon in your campaign or ad group, you’ll see a pop-up window with an option to opt in to reports about demographic bidding. If you choose to opt in to having that information in your reports, your account reports will break out data by the specific demographics you are using.

Note: You are not required to add premiums to your bids to see the reports for demographic bidding. However, if you do choose to add a premium to your demographic preferences, the opt-in for reports will be automatically checked, and you will see that data broken out in reports.

Do demographic bid adjustments apply to both Sponsored Search and Content Match?

Yes, bid adjustments can be applied to both Sponsored Search and Content Match ad groups.

Are bid adjustments available at the campaign and ad group level?

Bid adjustments can be applied to campaigns or ad groups. However, they cannot be “overlayed”; i.e., if you’ve set up bid adjustments at the campaign level, you can’t also set up bid adjustments in any of that campaign’s individual ad groups.

Does it make more sense to target at the campaign or ad group level?

It depends on the structure of your campaigns and ad groups. If you have many ad groups within a single campaign that have different demographic targets, you should use flexible bidding at the ad group level. If your desired demographic targets are the same across an entire campaign, then you can use flexible bidding at the campaign level.

How can I ensure that my ads appear near the top of search results displayed to my targeted demographic groups?

As you know, your ads’ ranking is determined by both your bid and ad quality. You should use the information provided in the forecasting section of your keyword pages as a guide in determining your keyword bids. Here are some best practices for using this information to bid to a high position in the first page of search results:

Use the slider graph for guidance regarding the position of your ads for a keyword, the average cost per click, the estimated number of clicks you will receive, and the percentage of total available clicks that you will be potentially leaving for your competition.
If your aim is to receive the maximum amount of clicks available, you should consider bidding at or above the upper part of the bid range displayed in the graph.
Refer to the Bid Range for Top Positions for a recent estimate of how much you would need to bid for your ad to be placed in the top positions of search results.
Adjust your budget so that you will be able to realize the volume of clicks that are in line with your marketing objectives.

As you receive more traffic, monitor your average position and adjust your bid premiums as needed to improve the position in search results.

Is there a way I can set up my ads to appear only to a certain gender and/or certain age range(s)?

No. Setting your premium amounts especially high for desired demographic groups should help direct more of your advertising budget toward users matching those criteria, but it will not eliminate the possibility of your ads displaying to other groups.

How is my bid premium determined if the search user matches multiple desired demographic categories?

The premiums you set for various demographic groups are added together if a user matches more than one criterion. For example, if you have set a bid premium or 15% for female prospects and 25% for ages 30 to 34, a potential impression from a 32-year-old woman user would result in a bid 40% higher than the base bid for your campaign or ad group.

What is the default bid adjustments setting?

The default setting for bid adjustments is that your ads are displayed to all ages and genders without a bid premium applied to any specific demographic group.

If I want to create multiple campaigns/ad groups using the same keywords but different targeting settings, will this increase my costs and/or minimum bid requirements?

No, adding duplicate campaigns or ad groups will not drive up your cost-per-click and/or minimum bid requirements. However, we don’t recommend that you extensively duplicate a keyword in multiple campaigns or ad groups, as it can make account management and performance tracking more difficult.

If other advertisers are using bid adjustments and I’m not, will this increase my minimum bid requirements?

No, your minimum bid will not increase if other advertisers add premiums to their bids for age or gender preferences. Your minimum bid requirements are based, among other things, on your ad quality and the bids of similar advertisers (who are also not adding bid premiums).

Ad Scheduling

What is ad scheduling?
Why would I want to use ad scheduling?
How precisely can I target the times/days my ads appear?
How do I set up ad scheduling?
Is ad scheduling the same concept as “dayparting”?
Does ad scheduling apply to both Sponsored Search and Content Match?
Is ad scheduling available at the campaign or ad group level?
Do the times I choose correspond to the time zone of my account or the time zones of search users?
How does Yahoo! know what time zone a user is in?
How will I know how many impressions/clicks to expect for a given time period?
Can I use this feature to block my ads from appearing at a certain time or day of the week?
How can I ensure that my ads appear near the top of search results at my chosen times?
Will my reports break out performance by particular times/days?
Is there an easy way to select start and end times for my ads to appear across an entire week?
Is there a way to schedule ads across my entire account in one step?
How long does it take for changes made to ad scheduling to take effect?
What is the default ad scheduling setting?

What is ad scheduling?

Yahoo! recently introduced ad scheduling, a “dayparting” tool that enables Sponsored Search advertisers to schedule their ads for display at different times and days across an entire week. For example, you might choose to only display your ads during the hours in which your phone number is answered by a live representative. You can choose to display your ads at times that correspond to your business, or to the specific time zones of users seeing your ads, depending on your individual needs.

Why would I want to use ad scheduling?

There are many reasons why it might make sense for you to limit the hours in which your ads are displayed. For example, you might choose to only display your ads during the hours in which your phone number is answered by a live representative. Or perhaps you sell a product geared toward teenagers, so it doesn’t make sense to display your ads during school hours.

We encourage you to think about how the new ad scheduling feature might be beneficial to your business, test out different strategies and closely monitor your results to ensure that they meet your business objectives.

How precisely can I target the times/days my ads appear?

You can choose to have your ads displayed in select blocks of time as small as one hour on a specific day of the week. You can choose to display your ads at times that correspond to your business, or to the specific time zones of users seeing your ads, depending on your individual needs.

How do I set up ad scheduling?

To select the times and days on which you want your ads to appear, follow these steps:

Go to the Settings page at either the campaign or ad group level.
Click the “Edit” button to the right of the Ad Scheduling label.
Click on the cell of the time you wish to have your ads start (this will open an overlay window).
Enter the start and end times that you wish to have your ads displayed on that day via the drop-downs.
Click the “Apply” button within the overlay window.
Click the “Apply” button on the Ad Scheduling page when all changes have been submitted.

Is ad scheduling the same concept as “dayparting”?

Essentially, yes; our ad scheduling feature is similar to traditional “dayparting” strategies used in many other types of advertising.

Does ad scheduling apply to both Sponsored Search and Content Match?

Yes, ad scheduling can be applied to both Sponsored Search and Content Match ad groups.

Is ad scheduling available at the campaign or ad group level?

Ad scheduling can be applied to campaigns or ad groups. However, it cannot be “overlayed”; i.e., if you’ve set up ad scheduling at the campaign level, you can’t also set up ad scheduling in any of that campaign’s individual ad groups.

Do the times I choose correspond to the time zone of my account or the time zones of search users?

You can choose to display your ads at times that correspond to your business, or to the specific time zones of users seeing your ads, depending on your individual needs.

How does Yahoo! know what time zone a user is in?

By leveraging anonymous and aggregated information from Yahoo!’s large user population, we can very accurately determine the time zone in which individual users are viewing ads.

How will I know how many impressions/clicks to expect for a given time period?

As you make selections in your account regarding ad scheduling, our forecasting tools will provide information as to the number of clicks and impressions you might expect using various strategies. As always, the information provided by our forecasting tool is an estimate only and not a guarantee, and is intended to provide you with guidance in making decisions regarding your account.

Can I use this feature to block my ads from appearing at a certain time or day of the week?

Yes, the hours/days that you select should be the only times our systems display your ads.

How can I ensure that my ads appear near the top of search results at my chosen times?

Use the slider graph for guidance regarding the position of your ads for a keyword, the average cost per click, the estimated number of clicks you will receive, and the percentage of total available clicks that you will be potentially leaving for your competition.
If your aim is to receive the maximum amount of clicks available, you should consider bidding at or above the upper part of the bid range displayed in the graph.
Refer to the Bid Range for Top Positions for a recent estimate of how much you would need to bid for your ad to be placed in the top positions of search results.
Adjust your budget so that you will be able to realize the volume of clicks that are in line with your marketing objectives.

As you receive more traffic, monitor your average position and adjust your bids as needed to improve the position in search results.

Will my reports break out performance by particular times/days?

Yes, reports will break out performance data by time period, provided you have already set some time parameters using the ad scheduling tool.

Is there an easy way to select start and end times for my ads to appear across an entire week?

Yes, simply click on the ad scheduling page to select the time and day at which you want your ads to start appearing, then enter the end time of the schedule.

Is there a way to schedule ads across my entire account in one step?

At this time, the highest level at which ad scheduling is available is the campaign level. Ad scheduling can be applied across your entire account by making selections within each campaign.

How long does it take for changes made to ad scheduling to take effect?

Any changes you make with ad scheduling will go into effect very quickly.

What is the default ad scheduling setting?

The default setting for ad scheduling is that your ads are displayed across all 24 hours of all seven days of the week, and no bid premium is added to any specific time period.

Campaign Budgeting

What is a daily spending limit?
How do I set a campaign daily spending limit?
How do I adjust my campaign daily spending limit?
How do I schedule my campaign budget?
How close to my daily spending limit will I actually spend?
Can I modify my campaign daily spending limit after I've set it?
How does Yahoo! come up with a recommended daily spending limit?
How do I find the recommended daily spending limit for my campaign?
How is my daily spending limit distributed?
If I don’t get enough Content Match clicks to use up the percentage of my budget that I designated for Content Match, will you use the remaining budget for Sponsored Search clicks?
How often can I change my daily spending limit?
Where can I find information regarding my current campaign daily spending limit?
How do I control the cost of my ads?
How can I ensure that I stay within my daily spending limit?
I have more questions about my daily spending limit. How do I contact a Yahoo! representative?

What is a daily spending limit?

The account daily spending limit is designed to provide you with financial control over your advertising budget by allowing you to determine the maximum amount your account will be charged each day. You can also set a daily spending limit for each of your campaigns. By entering an amount for your approximate daily budget, our systems will automatically adjust the daily rotation of your ads so that your daily click charges should be close to your target daily budget. ¹ You have the flexibility to receive a non-stop or controlled flow of traffic, which makes account management easier by eliminating the need to constantly monitor your spending and account balance as well as helping to provide a daily flow of leads to your site.

¹Please note that you may be charged up to 10% above your daily spending limit.

How do I set a campaign daily spending limit?

To set a budget for your campaign, follow these steps:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Choose a campaign.
Click the Campaign Settings link.
Select the option to change your daily budget.
On this page, you can specify the maximum¹ you would like to spend on your campaign each day. You can get an estimate of how many daily impressions and clicks you could expect to receive each day by clicking the “Estimate” button, along with an estimate of how many impressions and clicks you will miss. You can also specify a percentage of your budget you want to go to Content Match. Sponsored Search campaigns can consume unused Content Match budget.
Once you are satisfied with your campaign budget and schedule, click the “Save Changes” button.

To learn more about editing your budget settings, please view the Changing Campaign Settings article.

¹You may be charged up to 10% above your campaign daily spending limit.

How do I adjust my campaign daily spending limit?

To set a budget for your campaign, follow these steps:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Choose a campaign.
Once you are on the Campaign Details page, click the Campaign Settings link.
Select the option to change your daily budget.
On this page, you can specify the maximum¹ you would like to spend on your campaign each day. You can get an estimate of how many daily impressions and clicks you could expect to receive each day by clicking the “Estimate” button, along with an estimate of how many impressions and clicks you will miss. You can also specify a percentage of your budget you want to go to Content Match. Sponsored Search campaigns can consume unused Content Match budget.
Once you are satisfied with your campaign budget and schedule, click the Save Changes button.

To learn more about editing your budget settings, please view the Changing Campaign Settings article.

¹You may be charged up to 10% above your campaign daily spending limit.

How do I schedule my campaign budget?

To schedule a start and end date for your campaign, follow these steps:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Choose a campaign.
Click the Campaign Settings link.
Select the edit button from the Campaign Budget and Schedule panel.
You can schedule a start date and end date for your campaign (e.g., this campaign is related to a short promotional window), or you can specify no end date if this is an ongoing campaign.
Once you are satisfied with your campaign budget and schedule, click the Save Changes button.

To learn more about scheduling your campaign, please view the Changing Campaign Settings article.

To learn about scheduling start and end times for your campaigns and/or ad groups (ad scheduling), click here.

How close to my daily spending limit will I actually spend?

The click charges you actually incur on a given day should be close to the daily amount you have budgeted. However, with fluctuations in keyword marketplaces, traffic levels, etc., the amount of your spend can vary from your budgeted amount. The click charges should not exceed 10% above your daily spending limit. Please keep in mind that depending on your bids and your keyword marketplaces, you may not get all the traffic available for the spending limit you set.

Can I modify my campaign daily spending limit after I've set it?

Yes, you can change your campaign daily spending limit at any time by following these steps:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Choose a campaign.
Click the Campaign Settings link.
Click the edit button within the Campaign Budgeting and Scheduling panel.
On the resulting page, you can specify the maximum¹ you would like to spend on your campaign each day, and get an estimate of how many daily impressions and clicks you could expect to receive for that budget by clicking the “Estimate” button. You will also get an estimate of how many impressions and clicks you could miss for that budget level. You can also specify a percentage of your budget you want to go to Content Match. Sponsored Search campaigns can consume unused Content Match budget.
Once you are satisfied with your campaign budget and schedule, click the Save Changes button.

Please note that any changes you make to your budget will take effect within a few hours, and only affect your spend going forward.

To learn more about editing your budget settings, please view Campaign Settings.

To change your account daily spending limit, go to the Administration tab, choose an account, then change your account daily spending limit.

¹You may be charged up to 10% above your campaign daily spending limit.

How does Yahoo! come up with a recommended daily spending limit?

Your desired campaign daily spending limit will vary depending on your traffic patterns and other factors. You may want to consider setting your daily spending limit at either:

the most you'd want to spend for an average day

the most you’d want to spend for any day.

The same parameters would also apply to the account-level daily spending limit. We recommend that the sum of the daily spending limits for all of your campaigns does not exceed your account-level daily spending limit.

How do I find the recommended daily spending limit for my campaign?

To find the recommended daily spending limit for your campaign, follow these steps:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Choose a campaign.
Click the Campaign Settings link.
Select the option to edit your daily budget.
Choose Yes to set a daily spending limit and to get information about the recommended daily spending limit for your campaign. This recommended daily spending limit gives you an estimate of the amount it would take to get the most available traffic.

How is my daily spending limit distributed?

Ad impressions and cost are controlled (spread out based on forecast and actual spend) throughout the day, so your specified daily spending limit is not exceeded by more than 10%. You can specify a percentage of your budget you want to go to Content Match. Sponsored Search campaigns can consume unused Content Match budget. When your daily spending limit is reached, the campaign is placed offline.

If I don’t get enough Content Match clicks to use up the percentage of my budget that I designated for Content Match, will you use the remaining budget for Sponsored Search clicks?

Yes, our systems will constantly evaluate your click charges from Content Match traffic, and potentially “release” some of your budget for Sponsored Search clicks if needed.

How often can I change my daily spending limit?

You can change your daily spending limit as often as you wish, and it will go into effect very soon after you change it. Please note that if you change it to a value that is less than what you’ve already spent on that day, your campaign or account will be placed offline until the next day.

Where can I find information regarding my current campaign daily spending limit?

You can find your daily spending limit on the Campaign Details page. If you would like to know if you have set a daily spending limit, click on the Campaign Settings link.

How do I control the cost of my ads?

To control your costs, it's important to set bids and daily spending limit(s) appropriately (i.e., pay the right amount per click and limit your daily spending accordingly). Better ad quality/relevance, appropriate match type settings, geo-targeting (if applicable) and continent blocking can also help manage costs.

How can I ensure that I stay within my daily spending limit?

To help stay within your daily spending limits, you should set bids and daily spending limit(s) appropriately (i.e., pay the right amount per click and limit daily spending accordingly).

I have more questions about my daily spending limit. How do I contact a Yahoo! representative?

A link to the Customer Support (and the Support Request form) is available on all pages of your account in the upper right-hand corner.

Campaign Optimization

The FAQs below are for a feature that may only be available to our higher spending advertisers. When your account reaches a certain spend level, this feature can be enabled in your account.

What is Campaign Optimization?
What can Campaign Optimization do for me?
How do I use Campaign Optimization?
How can I tell if I have Campaign Optimization on?
Why can’t I find the link for setting up campaign optimization in my account?
What is the “default bid limit”?
Which customer actions within the sales funnel does Campaign Optimization allow you to set values and importance levels for?
If I don't set a particular customer action as most important, does Campaign Optimization treat them all equally?
Can I turn Campaign Optimization off?

What is Campaign Optimization?

Campaign Optimization can help you spend your campaign's budget as efficiently as possible based on your business objectives (i.e., if you want to achieve a certain cost-per-click or return-on-ad-spend figure) or guidelines (e.g., the value and importance of impressions, clicks, and conversions/revenue). Some accounts have access to campaign optimization features that include cost-per-acquisition and other settings. You can contact our Customer Solutions department to find out how to get access to this feature.

What can Campaign Optimization do for me?

Campaign Optimization manages campaigns for you to help maximize the effectiveness of your spending, based on the guidelines you provide. Campaign optimization automatically manages keyword bidding, match type settings, and ad display to save you time and help you get the most out of your monthly budget.

How do I use Campaign Optimization?

When you turn on Campaign Optimization, you select optimization guidelines, which help you spend your campaign monthly budget on the ads that best meet your goals and objectives. Just set the value and relative importance levels for the guidelines that are relevant to your business. These settings will be used by the ad groups in your campaign, unless you set custom values for them.

Note: If Campaign Optimization is on, you can't change an ad group's Sponsored Search status, Content Match status, or match type, or set an ad group bid because Campaign Optimization manages the distribution tactic, match type and bidding for you.

How can I tell if I have Campaign Optimization on?

To see if you are using Campaign Optimization, just click on one of your campaigns and look in the “Campaign Performance” box in the upper-left area of the screen. Next to “Campaign Optimization” you will see either “On” or “Off.” You can click that link to change your campaign optimization settings. Please note that this setting is not displayed if Campaign Optimization is not available for your account.

Why can’t I find the link for setting up campaign optimization in my account?

Campaign Optimization is an advanced feature that is currently available to our higher spending advertisers only. When your account reaches a certain spend level, the feature can be enabled in your account.

What is the “default bid limit”?

When Campaign Optimization is on, you may use the default bid limit. The default bid limit is the maximum price that you are willing to pay for a click.

Which customer actions within the sales funnel does Campaign Optimization allow you to set values and importance levels for?

Campaign Optimization allows you to set importance levels for impressions, clicks, conversions or revenue. You can also indicate a preferred minimum position for ads; while this is not a constraint, the optimizer will try to achieve that minimum rank if possible based on the guidelines you set.

If I don't set a particular customer action as most important, does Campaign Optimization treat them all equally?

Yes, the values and importance levels in Campaign Optimization are judged relative to one another. If you set them all to “low,” the feature will give them equal weight, just as if you had set them all to "high."

Can I turn Campaign Optimization off?

Yes, you can turn Campaign Optimization off by following these steps:

Click on one of your campaigns
Find the Campaign Performance box in the upper-left area of the screen.
Next to Campaign Optimization click the On link to change your campaign optimization settings.

Ad Groups

What is an Ad Group?
How do I create a new ad group?
How do I duplicate an ad group?
How do I move my ad groups from one campaign to the other?
How do I turn my ad group on or off?
How do I delete an ad group?
How do I download an ad group summary?
Does the name of my ad group influence ad placement?
What is a default bid?
How many ad groups can I have in a campaign? How many keywords and ad can I have in an ad group?
Why would I want to split my ad group?
If I split my ad group, will the pre-existing keywords and bid amounts be carried into each of the individual ad groups?
If I split my ad group, does the quality index score from the old ad group carry into both, or is quality re-calculated?

What is an ad group?

An ad group contains ads (the marketing messages you created) and your targeting criteria (such as keywords). Your ads are rotated based on your targeting criteria and are displayed to potential customers. You can create multiple ad groups within a campaign.

How do I create a new ad group?

To create an ad group:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click Create Ad Group.

To learn more, please view the Creating Ad Groups article.

How do I duplicate an ad group?

You can copy an ad group and assign it to a different campaign. The copy includes the settings, ads, and keywords associated with the original ad group, but not any performance history.

To copy an ad group and assign it to another campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click the ad group you want to copy.
Click the Ad Group Settings link and select the Copy button from the top right of the page.
You can make a copy of an ad group, give it a new name and assign it to a different campaign.

How do I move my ad groups from one campaign to the other?

If you move an ad group to a different campaign, the ad group will retain the ads and keywords associated with it, as well as any other associated information (such as distribution tactics and match type).

To move an ad group to another campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click the ad group you want to move.
Click the Ad Group Settings link and select the Move Ad Group button from the top right of the page.

You can move the ad group and assign it to a different campaign.

How do I turn my ad group 'on' or 'off'?

The ad group status indicates whether the ad group is "active" (on) or "paused" (off).

To set an ad group status:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Check the box next to the ad group for which you want to set the status.
Click the Pause button to make your ad group "inactive" or select the Unpause button to make the ad group eligible for "active" status.
Click Submit.

How do I delete an ad group?

You can delete an ad group, but after it is deleted, it cannot be restored. The ads in a deleted ad group are not available for display. If you delete an ad group, you still have access to its historical performance data.

To delete an ad group:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click the box next to the ad group(s) you want to delete.
Click the Delete button.

How do I download an ad group summary?

You can download ad group data in XML (using Excel 2003) or TSV (tab-separated values) format.

To download the data for an ad group:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name OR click the Ad Groups sub-link below the Campaigns tab.
Click the ad group name. The Ad Group Details page opens.
(Optional) If you want data only for a select group of keywords or ads within the ad group (such as those with a Pending editorial status), click the Keywords or Ads tab and use the search function to list only those keywords or ads that meet your search criteria.
Click Download Ad Group in the upper right of the page.

Does the name of my ad group influence ad placement?

The name you give to your ad groups is simply to help you organize your ads and keywords; it has no bearing on ad placement.

What is a default bid?

A default bid can be set to apply to all Sponsored Search keywords in an ad group. For each Sponsored Search keyword, you can either use the default bid or specify a custom bid that is unique to that keyword.

To help simplify bid management, you can use the default bid for most of your keywords (keywords that you feel comfortable managing as a group) and specify custom bids for a smaller set of keywords.

You can easily reset the bid for all of the keywords with default bids at once simply by updating the default bid.

You cannot specify a custom bid for Content Match at the keyword level. Rather, the Content Match bid that you set applies to all Content Match keywords in the ad group.

Note:

When campaign optimization is on, you may use the default bid limit. The default bid limit is the maximum price that you are willing to pay for a click.

Learn more about Setting an Ad Group Default bid.

How many ad groups can I have in a campaign? How many keywords and ad can I have in an ad group?

You may have as many as 1,000 ad groups per campaign. An ad group can have up to 1000 keywords and 20 ads.

Why would I want to split my ad group?

We have long recommended that advertisers use separate ad groups for Sponsored Search ads and Content Match ads, because of the differences in where they appear and their performance. This new feature gives you the ability to take pre-existing ad groups set up to display both types of ads, and easily split them into two separate ad groups that individually use just one type of tactic. This can save you time and effort, as you won’t have to split them manually.

If I split my ad group, will the pre-existing keywords and bid amounts be carried into each of the individual ad groups?

Yes, all of the ad group data will be carried into the new ad groups, including keywords and bid amounts. Please note that because this action creates a new ad group, your keywords and/or ads may require a standard editorial review, and you may see their status listed as “Pending” in your account interface.

If I split my ad group, does the quality index score from the old ad group carry into both, or is quality re-calculated?

If you split an ad group, our systems will copy all of your existing ads in the two newly created ad groups; but because they are in newly created ad groups, the ads will also be considered “new” for the purposes of calculating quality scores. Thus, the ads will need to start receiving impressions in the new ad groups to determine their quality scores.

Editorial Guidelines and Policies

View Editorial Guidelines and Relates Resources here

Keywords

What are keywords?
How many keywords can I use per ad group?
Does capitalization factor into keywords?
Can I use keywords or phrases that include brand names??
Are keywords case-sensitive?
Should I submit plural versions of my keywords or does your system automatically match me to them??
Can I bid on misspelled keywords?
Where can I find the keyword generation tools in my account?
Can I generate keywords from a webpage URL? Do you check my whole site or just that particular destination page?
Are keyword suggestions already editorially approved?
How do I check the editorial status of a keyword I have submitted? How long will it be before my keywords go live?
Are the keyword generation tools available outside of the account interface?
What happened to the Keyword Selector Tool?
Lots of advertisers were still using the Keyword Selector Tool. Why did you have to kill it?
How do I add keywords?
How do I edit my keywords?
How do I delete keywords?
Can I edit a group of keywords at the same time?
Do all keywords have to have an ad associated with them?
How do I build a more effective keyword list??
Should I add as many keywords as possible as long as they are relevant?
If I use the same keywords in different ad groups or campaigns, will my ads be competing with each other in search results?
Can I get traffic estimates for my keywords?
How much should I bid on my keyword to attain a high position in search results??
What is the minimum bid for keywords?
How much should I bid per keyword?
How can I monitor the performance of my keywords?
How can I view details about my keyword’s performance?
Can I see which of my keywords generate the most clicks and conversions?
Why is it important to use keywords that are relevant to an ad?
Is my quality index score based partially on the keywords that I select for an ad group?
Can ineffective keywords affect my ad’s quality index score?
Can I put the same keyword in more than one ad group?
Can I use the same keyword with different match types in the same ad group?

What are keywords?

A keyword is a single word or multi-word phrase that relates to both the product or service you want to advertise and the way people search for that product or service. When potential customers search for information related to your keywords, your ads may be displayed.

How many keywords can I use per ad group?

An ad group may contain as many as 1,000 keywords and 20 ads.

Does capitalization factor into keywords??

No, keywords are not case-sensitive.

Can I use keywords or phrases that include brand names?

You may use branded keywords, provided that you satisfy our Trademark Guidelines and have sufficient relevant content on your landing page.

Are keywords case-sensitive?

No, keywords aren't case-sensitive. They will be matched to search queries regardless of whether searches contain uppercase or lowercase letters.

Should I submit plural versions of my keywords or does your system automatically match me to them?

Our system maps plural versions of keywords to their singular counterparts; therefore, you do not have to bid on multiple plural versions of your existing keywords.

Can I bid on misspelled keywords?

Yes. When you bid on misspelled keywords, please be sure to utilize the Alternate Text feature to ensure that your ads do not use the misspelled word in the title. Learn more about Alternate Text and other keyword features here.

Where can I find the keyword generation tools in my account?

To access the more robust keyword generation tools in your account, just follow these steps:

Click the “Campaigns” tab.
Select a campaign.
Select an ad group.
Click the blue “+ Add Keywords” drop-down menu (next to the “Ads” tab).
Choose one of the three options and follow the instructions to generate or add new keywords to this ad group.

Learm more about adding keywords to your account using the keyword generation tools.

Can I generate keywords from a webpage URL? Do you check my whole site or just that particular destination page?

Yes, when getting keyword suggestions, you can enter the URL of a page on your web site. We'll crawl that web page to suggest keywords. We check the content on just that single page, not your whole site. To check the content of other web pages for additional suggestions, enter a different URL.

Are keyword suggestions already editorially approved?

No, the keywords we suggest are simply keywords that you can consider adding to your ad group. Any keywords you submit are subject to editorial review.

How do I check the editorial status of a keyword I have submitted? How long will it be before my keywords go live?

You can review the editorial status of keywords and ads in your account. If a keyword or ad status is Declined or Removed, you can view details to understand why it was declined or removed and correct it.

To view the editorial status of keywords or ads:

Click the Campaigns tab and then click the Editorial Status subtab. Or, if you received notification that the keyword or ad has been declined or removed, on the Dashboard click the alert in the Alerts panel.
To view the editorial status of an ad, click the Ads tab.
To find a specific keyword or ad, enter search criteria and click Search. The keywords or ads matching your criteria are displayed.
For additional information about an item’s editorial status, click its name.

To view approved keywords or ads:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click an ad group name. The Ad Group details page opens.
To view approved ads, click the Ads tab.

Most keywords go live shortly after submission -- usually within minutes. However, keywords or ads containing sensitive content (such as ads relating to online pharmacies, or adult content) require additional time for review and processing.

Are the keyword generation tools available outside of the account interface?

No, at this time the keyword generation tools are only available to Yahoo! Search Marketing advertisers who are logged into their accounts and using the Add Keywords function.

What happened to the Keyword Selector Tool?

Beginning with the launch of the “Panama” Sponsored Search system in October 2006, the Keyword Selector Tool was no longer supported by Yahoo! Search Marketing. At that time, we adjusted the tool to show information from January 2007, as this was the last month from which we could provide search data.

Because we are now nearly two years beyond the introduction of the Panama system, as of June 23, 2008 we have permanently decommissioned the Keyword Selector Tool. You will find that all of its functionality, plus many more capabilities, are available within your account interface.

Specifically, you have three options to select from when you click “Add Keywords” on an Ad Group details page:

“Quick Add,” which enables you to easily type in keywords when you already know exactly which ones you want to add.
“Choose from List,” where our system makes keyword suggestions that are related to current ads and keywords in the ad group—you then just check the boxes next to the ones you want to add.
“Research Keywords,” which continues to offer you the ability to enter words or phrases that describe the products or services offered by your website, then our system will offer keyword suggestions. This page also enables you to enter your site’s URL, then our system will “crawl” the page and offer keyword suggestions.

Lots of advertisers were still using the Keyword Selector Tool. Why did you have to kill it?

We understand that many advertisers (and non-advertisers) had come to rely on the Keyword Selector Tool, which dates back to the “Overture era.” Ironically, the sheer volume traffic that this tool received also led, in part, to our decision to decommission it, because its responsiveness was greatly diminished, making it less effective. It also used up system resources that can be better allocated to other functions that benefit our paying advertisers.

More importantly, our “Panama” system offers more robust forecasting and keyword research tools that can help advertisers gain better insight into the expected performance of potential keywords. And because these tools are only available only to our advertisers, using them will be much faster and simpler.

How do I add keywords?

To add keywords to an existing campaign:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click an ad group name. The Ad Group details page, listing keywords in that ad group, opens.
Click the Add Keywords link.

To learn more, view the Selecting Keywords article.

How do I edit my keywords?

You can't edit a keyword. To change a keyword, delete the keyword, and then add the new one.

How do I delete keywords?

To delete a keyword:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click an ad group name. The Ad Group details page opens.
Check the box next to the keyword(s) that you want to delete.
Click Delete.

Can I edit a group of keywords at the same time?

Our system does not permit you to edit keywords. You can add new keywords (including variations of current keywords) or remove keywords that are no longer needed. Adding or deleting keywords can be done in bulk or one by one.

Do all keywords have to have an ad associated with them?

Yes; however, this doesn’t mean that you should only use one ad per keyword, or one keyword per ad. You can use multiple ads pointing to many keywords within an ad group.

How do I build a more effective keyword list?

Consider creating a list of keywords that range from the most general words relating to your products and services to the most specific. One way to begin to creating an effective keyword list is to look at your web site.

Review your home page and each page of your web site.
List all words and phrases that relate to the content of your pages (including your company name).
If you're a retailer, include every model, brand name, and product feature of every product you sell.
Think of search terms your customers would use to search for each product or service.
To help extend your reach to a wider search audience, note variations of search terms by combining two or three keywords (for example, 50" HD Television).
If your web site includes a search feature, review your internal search logs for words and phrases that visitors use when searching on your site.
To help expand your keyword mix, focus on adding very specific "niche" terms to your keyword list. For example, TV is a very general term, 43 inch Plasma TV is more specific, and 43 inch Plasma TV with a model number is "niche." Niche keywords may feature fewer competing bids – in some cases, none at all -- and can convert very well.

Should I add as many keywords as possible as long as they are relevant?

Using more keywords can generally lead to higher traffic volume, but you need to be careful. You want to make sure that the keywords you select are specific enough to your products or services and not too general. For example, if you sell only one particular brand of DVD player, you may not want to use the keyword, "DVD Players," because it would likely bring you traffic from users looking for DVD Players made by many companies.

Remember, you can use as many as 50 excluded keywords and 1,000 keywords per ad group. The Sponsored Search account interface allows you to add up to 500 keywords at a time. So, if you want to add the maximum 1,000 keywords, you’d have to add two separate lists of 500 keywords each.

If I use the same keywords in different ad groups or campaigns, will my ads be competing with each other in search results?

Though your ads may compete with each other prior to serving, they will not compete with each other in search results, because only one of your ads can appear in a given set of search results.

If the same keyword appears in two different ad groups, which ad is displayed depends on a number of factors. The entire context of the user’s search query is considered. For example, if there are any geographic implications to the user’s search query and the campaign in which one of the ads appears has a relevant geo-targeting setting, that ad may be displayed. If all else is equal, the ad with the highest bid and quality combination should be displayed.

Can I get traffic estimates for my keywords?

Yes, for a keyword bid, you can see:

Estimated monthly clicks
Estimated average position
Estimated average cost per click
Share of available clicks

To get estimates for a keyword bid:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click an ad group name. The Ad Group details page opens.
To see a traffic estimate associated with a keyword bid, click the bid value associated with that keyword.
(Optional) To see an estimate of the number of clicks you might get for a different bid, do either of the following:

Select Use Default Bid.

Select Specify Custom Bid, enter a bid amount, and click Estimate.

Please remember that these are estimates only and are not guarantees.

How much should I bid on my keyword to attain a high position in search results?

The bid required to get a high position in search results depends on a variety of market conditions, including the number of advertisers bidding on the keyword, the type of product or service it’s related to, and its search volume.

What is the minimum bid for keywords?

Keyword minimum bids can vary depending on multiple factors, such as:

How much the keyword is worth, or its value, which we may determined by looking at, among other things, the number of bidders and bid amounts in the keyword marketplace.
Ad and keyword quality – The relevance of your keywords and your ads, determined by multiple factors, such as how frequently your ads are clicked relative to their competitors. Minimum bids will not be based upon conversion data.

For more information about minimum bids, please click here.

How much should I bid per keyword?

To determine how much to bid, estimate the following factors:

Your maximum budget required to acquire one new customer (cost per acquisition)
Number of visitors who convert into customers (conversion rate)

To help calculate your bid, multiply your cost per acquisition by the conversion rate. For example, if your cost per acquisition is $20 and your conversion rate is 1.5%, consider a bid of $0.30.

How can I monitor the performance of my keywords?

The Ad Group details page lists the keywords (and their performance data) in an ad group.

To monitor the performance of your keywords:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click an ad group name. The Ad Group details page opens.

Also, the Keyword Performance Report provides analytics data (impressions, clicks, conversions, and more) for keywords across your entire account.

How can I view details about my keyword’s performance?

On the dashboard, choose "Show top keywords" from the pull-down menu. Click each individual keyword to view individual performance.

Can I see which of my keywords generate the most clicks and conversions?

Yes. The Keyword Performance Report provides analytics data (impressions, clicks, conversions, and more) for keywords across your entire account. You can also view analytics data for an ad group level on the Ad Group details page.

To view keyword data:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click an ad group name. The Ad Group details page opens.

Note: Your web site needs to be tagged to view analytics related to conversions (such as number of conversions and cost per acquisition) and revenue, such as ROAS (return on ad spend).

Why is it important to use keywords that are relevant to an ad?

If you use keywords that are not specifically relevant to the ad(s) in an ad group, they may negatively impact the ads’ performance.

Is my quality index score based partially on the keywords that I select for an ad group?

The keywords you choose are extremely important to your quality index score, because highly relevant keywords will help users find your ad in search results.

Can ineffective keywords affect my ad’s quality index score?

If certain keywords are causing a drop in your click-through rate, this can affect your ad’s quality index score.

Learn more about Selecting Keywords.

Can I put the same keyword in more than one ad group?

Yes, you can use the same keyword within different ad groups in a campaign. However, that keyword will be competing against its counterpart in the other ad group, unless you are using the same keyword in different geo-targeted campaigns.

Can I use the same keyword with different match types in the same ad group?

No, we do not allow duplicate keywords within the same ad group.

Pricing and Minimum Bids

What are minimum bids?
How do minimum bids benefit my account?
Do minimum bids apply to all keywords?
What should I do in my account to manage minimum bids?
How do you determine what the minimum bid is for a keyword?
Does Yahoo! use my conversion data to calculate the minimum bids on my keywords?
Does this change how much you’ll charge me for each click in Sponsored Search?
How often will my minimum bid for a keyword change?
How do I know what my minimum bid is for a given keyword?
How does this change affect keywords opted in to the Advanced match type?
Does the forecasting information reflect my required keyword minimum bid?

What are minimum bids?

Your minimum bid is the amount required to participate in a Sponsored Search keyword market. The amount set as your minimum bid on a keyword can vary depending on multiple factors, such as the relevance of your keywords (as measured by the quality of the ads associated with them in an ad group), and the number of bidders and their bid amounts in the particular keyword market. It is not based on advertiser conversions.

How do minimum bids benefit my account?

In some cases, minimum bids can increase the value of the targeted leads we provide to you, by potentially lowering the bid amount necessary to participate in some keyword markets. In general, the enhancements we introduce should collectively help you reduce your cost-per-click charges when the quality of your ads is higher, or when we adjust click charges from certain partners’ sites. For more information on these programs, please visit our Traffic Quality Center at http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/trafficquality.

Do minimum bids apply to all keywords?

Because keyword markets are always in flux, we recommend that you monitor your account regularly and pay attention to any alerts you receive regarding minimum bids.

What should I do in my account to manage minimum bids?

As always, we encourage you to review your account settings to make sure they are consistent with your business objectives. We recommend that you keep a close eye on the Alerts box on your Dashboard page—this is the place where you’ll be notified of any keywords that have minimum bid requirements higher than your current bids. If you check your alerts at least once a day, you should have plenty of time to increase your bids as necessary to ensure that your ads continue to be eligible for display.

Other locations in the account interface where you can find information on minimum bids include:

In the Status column on an Account-Level Keyword page
In the Status and Keyword Bid columns on the Set Keyword Bids page inside a particular ad group—where you can use the Set Bids to Minimum button to quickly set your bids to the amount(s) required for participation in a keyword.
Below the title of the keyword on a Keyword details page
In the Status column on an Account-level Ad Group page or Campaign details page (Content Match only)
In the Status column on an Ad Group details page
Via an Advanced Search on a Keyword or Ad Group details page, when you specify a particular status to filter by
In the Status column of the Top and Watched Keywords lists, found on the Dashboard
In the Status column on an Account-Level Keyword page
In the Status and Keyword Bid columns on the Set Keyword Bids page inside a particular ad group—where you can use the Set Bids to Minimum button to quickly set your bids to the amount(s) required for participation in a keyword
Below the title of the keyword on a Keyword details page
In the Status column on an Ad Group details page
In the Status column on an Account-Level Ad Group page or Campaign details page (Content Match only)
Via an Advanced Search on a Keyword or Ad Group details page, when you specify a particular status to filter by
In the Status column of the Top and Watched Keywords lists, found on the Dashboard

API users may also use the EWS 4.0.0 operation getSponsoredSearchMinBidForKeywordString to get the Sponsored Search minimum bid by keyword.

How do you determine what the minimum bid is for a keyword?

The amount set as your minimum bid on a keyword in Sponsored Search can vary depending on multiple factors, such as the relevance of your keywords (as measured by the quality of the ads associated with them), and the number of bidders and bid amounts in the particular keyword market.

Does Yahoo! use my conversion data to calculate the minimum bids on my keywords?

No, we do not use conversion data to determine minimum bids. The amount set as your minimum bid on a keyword can vary depending on multiple factors, such as the quality of your keywords (as measured by the quality of the ads associated with them), and the number of bidders and bid amounts in the particular keyword market.

Does this change how much you’ll charge me for each click in Sponsored Search?

The amount you are charged per click continues to be based on the minimum amount required to maintain your ad's position in search results, based on both the ad’s quality and bid. You are never charged more than your bid and, in many instances your costs may be lower than your actual bid.

IIn general, the enhancements we have introduced should align your click charges with the performance of the traffic you receive. Your cost-per-click charges are reduced when the quality of your ads is higher. And, generally, our Click Protection System automatically discards approximately 12 to 15 percent of clicks. For more information on these programs, please visit our Traffic Quality Center at http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/trafficquality.

How often will my minimum bid for a keyword change?

We don’t plan to frequently change your minimum bid required for participation in a Sponsored Search keyword market. In fact, most minimum bids should not vary dramatically over time, provided that the quality of your ads is maintained.

How do I know what my minimum bid is for a given keyword?

You can view your current minimum bid for a particular keyword to be active in the forecasting section of the Keyword Details page in your account interface.

Other locations in the account interface where you can find information on minimum bids:

In the Status column on an Account-Level Keyword page
In the Status and Keyword Bid columns on the Set Keyword Bids page inside a particular ad group—where you can use the Set Bids to Minimum button to quickly set your bids to the amount(s) required for participation in a keyword.
Below the title of the keyword on a Keyword details page
In the Status column on an Account-level Ad Group page or Campaign details page (Content Match only)
In the Status column on an Ad Group details page
Via an Advanced Search on a Keyword or Ad Group details page, when you specify a particular status to filter by
In the Status column of the Top and Watched Keywords lists, found on the Dashboard
In the Status column on an Account-Level Keyword page
In the Status and Keyword Bid columns on the Set Keyword Bids page inside a particular ad group—where you can use the Set Bids to Minimum button to quickly set your bids to the amount(s) required for participation in a keyword
Below the title of the keyword on a Keyword details page
In the Status column on an Ad Group details page
In the Status column on an Account-Level Ad Group page or Campaign details page (Content Match only)
Via an Advanced Search on a Keyword or Ad Group details page, when you specify a particular status to filter by
In the Status column of the Top and Watched Keywords lists, found on the Dashboard

API users may also use the EWS 4.0.0 operation getSponsoredSearchMinBidForKeywordString to get the Sponsored Search minimum bid by keyword.

How does this change affect keywords opted in to the Advanced match type?

Your minimum bid is based on the keyword you are bidding on, even if the ad associated with that keyword is displayed for a different query through our matching technologies. To be eligible for display in response to an advanced match query, your bid must meet the minimum bid associated with that advanced match query.

Does the forecasting information reflect my required keyword minimum bid?

Estimated monthly forecasting will reflect your current minimum bid required for a keyword, and will be updated when minimum bids are recalibrated. Please allow approximately one week for our system to accumulate enough data so that it can incorporate the effects of recalibrated minimum bids for a particular keyword into the estimated forecast. We expect that the impact of recalibrated minimum bids on the estimated forecast for a particular keyword will diminish over time after minimum bids are initially set for that term.

Back to Top

Ads

What is an Ad?
How do I create an Ad?
How do I view the ads that I have created?
How do I edit Ads?
How do I remove Ads?
What is a Description?
What is the difference between a Short Description and a Long Description? Do I need both?
Which of Yahoo!'s distribution partners display long ad descriptions?
What’s the difference between a Destination URL and a Display URL?
How do I make my ad specific enough for all my keywords?
What is Insert Keyword? How can I use this feature?
Can I use the dynamic keyword insertion in my destination URL?
What is the Display Rate?

What is an Ad?

An ad is the marketing message that your potential customers will see on Yahoo! and our distribution partner sites. An ad is made up of a title, description, and URL.

How do I create an Ad?

To create an ad:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click an ad group name. The Ad Group details page opens.
Click Create New Ad.

How do I view the ads that I have created?

To view your ads:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click an ad group name. The Ad Group details page opens.
Click the Ads tab. To preview the ad, click the icon to the right of the ad.

How do I edit Ads?

To edit an ad:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click an ad group name. The Ad Group Details page opens.
Click the Ads tab.
Click the ad you want to edit.

How do I remove Ads?

To delete an ad:

Click the Campaigns tab.
Click a campaign name.
Click an ad group name. The Ad Group Details page opens.
Click the Ads tab.
Click the box next to the ad you want to delete.
Click Delete.

Note: If you delete all ads from an ad group, no ads will be displayed from that ad group.

What is a Description?

A description is part of an ad. It is a concise summary of the products or services that you want to advertise. For best results, the description should correspond to the ad group's keywords.

Short descriptions are required when you create or modify an ad. Ads written more concisely give users a better experience and generally get better results. Your ads may attract more interested prospective customers.

What is the difference between a Short Description and a Long Description? Do I need both?

A short description (up to 70 characters) is a concise summary of the products or services that you want to advertise. Short descriptions are now required when you create or modify an ad.

A long description (up to 190 characters) is a detailed summary of the products or services that you want to advertise. It is displayed on partner sites that can accommodate longer descriptions. Long descriptions are optional.

For best results, descriptions should correspond to the ad group's keywords.

Which of Yahoo!'s distribution partners display long ad descriptions?

As a company policy, we don’t break out our distribution network by type of implementation. Our global distribution network includes hundreds of distribution partners and more than one million domains worldwide.

What’s the difference between a Destination URL and a Display URL?

The destination URL is the address of the web page that is displayed when an ad is clicked. The display URL, usually shorter than the destination URL, is the address that is shown in the ad. If the destination URL is long, include a display URL. For example, an ad with destination URL of http://www.electronics-planet.com/s_id=0&bc=1005 could have a display URL of www.electronics-planet.com – which is the URL that is shown in the ad.

How do I make my ad specific enough for all my keywords?

When you're creating your ad, just use the Insert Keyword feature and we'll automatically place a keyword into the title and/or description when the ad is displayed.

Use the Insert Keyword feature in conjunction with alternate text for the keyword. If you specify alternate text and it doesn't cause the title or description to exceed the maximum number of characters, we'll use the alternate text in the ad. If you don't specify alternate text or the alternate text makes the title or description too long, the default text is used in the ad.

To insert a keyword automatically in a title or description:

At the point in the title or description where you want a keyword inserted, click the Insert Keyword Automatically link below the text field. The Keyword Insertion dialog box opens.
In the Keyword Insertion dialog box, enter the default text.
Click the Add Keyword Placeholder button. {KEYWORD:default_text} is inserted into the title or description.

What is Insert Keyword? How can I use this feature?

The Insert Keyword feature is designed to save you time and help increase the relevance and click-through rate of your ads, by automatically inserting the keyword matched to the user’s search query into your ad’s title and/or description. You can use the Insert Keyword feature when you create an ad, or you can edit an ad so that it uses this feature.

Learn more about Insert Keyword.

Can I use the dynamic keyword insertion in my destination URL?

Dynamic keyword insertion works only with titles and descriptions of ads, not for URLs at this time.

What is the Display Rate?

Display rate is a ratio of how many possible times an ad could have been displayed compared to how many times it actually was displayed.

Back to Top

Quality Index

What is the quality index?
What relevance factors help determine the quality index?
Why don’t I have a quality index for my ads?
Does quality index impact my ad’s position?
Will quality index affect whether my ad is shown in the "north" or top spaces in search results?
How much weight does the quality index have on my ranking?
How is the quality index calculated?
Do you use a raw click-through rate to determine the quality index?
What is the minimum amount of data (impressions, number of days, number of clicks, etc) required before a meaningful quality index can be calculated?
Why does it look like an ad with a high/low Quality Index doesn’t have a high/low CTR?
Why does it look like an ad with a high Quality Index doesn't have a high click-through rate?
If I make changes to my ad, how long does it take before my quality index is affected?
Can I get a quality index for a specific keyword/ad combination, instead of an aggregate score for the ad?
Can I see my competitors’ quality index?
Why do you remove low quality ads from search results?
Do you filter out ads in the search results you provide to outside distribution partners, or does this only apply to results on Yahoo!?
My quality is low but instead of being shown with a lower rank my listing is not showing at all. Why?
If my quality index is one or two bars, does that automatically mean that my ad will be filtered?
How can I prove that I’ve improved the quality of my ads if you won’t display them?
How can I improve my quality index?
I followed your tips but my quality index is still low – what else can I do?
Does changing my bid affect my quality index?
If my ad quality is low, will increasing my bid help ensure my ad is displayed?
What has more impact on my position – my bid or my ad quality?
How does the organization of my ad groups affect ad quality?
If you have the same keyword in multiple Ad Groups, and both are live, how is it decided which one will show?
Does the quality index take Content Match and advanced match type traffic into account?
If a client has the same keyword in several accounts (going to different URLs), will they be able to make sure that only one ad shows up at a time? This is a feature available on Google.
Should brand terms be included within a particular ad group or separated out? What is impact of Ad Group on where they are run?
Does revising my ad reset my score? Do any other changes reset the score?
What is a landing page? Does my landing page play a role in quality index? If so, how?
How can I change my landing page?
How do I use custom URLs to take users directly to the landing page related to the product or service described in my ad?
Does the algorithmic page rank of my landing pages get factored into the quality index? If so, does landing page choice affect index score? What if my home page has a better page rank than sub-pages?
Will you be crawling my site to help determine quality? How often?

What is the quality index?

Quality index is a measure of the relevancy of your ad compared to ads that it competes with. It is displayed as one to five bars, where more bars means higher quality. Quality index reflects your ad's ability to meet the needs of users by looking at how relevant your ad is to each keyword and also its click-through rate relative to its position and other ads displayed at the same time. Your ad's quality index also impacts how much you need to bid and the position in which your ad appears—in some instances, ads with a higher quality index may require a lower bid and/or receive better placement on the results page.

What relevance factors help determine the quality index?

The quality index is primarily determined by your click-through rate and other relevance factors.* To help improve your quality index, focus on increasing your click-through rates by writing ads that appeal to users.

*In the absence of enough click-through rate data, other relevancy factors will be used.

Why don’t I have a quality index for my ads?

As soon as your ad receives one impression, a quality index is calculated. However, the quality index that is displayed within your account is updated daily. Therefore, you may not see a quality index displayed in your account until the day after your first impression is recorded.

Does quality index impact my ad’s position?

Ads are ranked based on a combination of your bid and your ad’s quality. Your bid and ad quality influence your ad’s rank. Generally, ads with a higher quality index may be rewarded with higher placement in search results and a lower cost-per-click.

Will quality index affect whether my ad is shown in the "north" or top spaces in search results?

In general, high quality ads have a greater likelihood of being displayed at the top (or “North”) of the Yahoo! search results page.

How much weight does the quality index have on my ranking?

Your quality index itself does not affect the way your ads are ranked in search results. Rather, it is simply relative measure of your ad’s performance. Of course, ad performance is a factor in the way ads are ranked, so we provide the quality index to help advertisers determine how well their ads are meeting the needs of users, and to guide changes to creative, if necessary to improve ranking.

How is the quality index calculated?

After a day of showing your ad, quality index is determined by relevancy factors along with the ad’s click-through rate relative to its position and to other ads displayed at the same time. Overall quality index is calculated across each ad group keyword for which your ad is displayed.

Do you use a raw click-through rate to determine the quality index?

No, we do not use a raw click-through rate to determine the quality index because that would unfairly penalize ads displayed in lower positions. Instead, we use a “normalized” click-through rate that factors in the ad’s position, as well as the historical performance of the keyword, to provide a more fair and accurate assessment of an ad’s performance.

What is the minimum amount of data (impressions, number of days, number of clicks, etc) required before a meaningful quality index can be calculated?

Why does it look like an ad with a high Quality Index doesn't have a high click-through rate?

This might occur due to one of several reasons:

Because quality index is indicative of an ad’s performance relative to competing ads, even an ad with a high click-through rate might have a low quality index if competing ads have higher click-through rates.
Click-through rate can fluctuate on a daily basis. Because the displayed click-through rate is dependent on the chosen date range, any short date range might show a click-through rate that seems out of synch with the quality index. Quality index, which cannot be modified by data range, is a historical indicator that will smooth out daily click-through rate fluctuations. Quality index is updated daily based on the previous day's clicks and impressions.
Quality index is composed of both expected performance and historical performance factors. As an ad receives more impressions and clicks, the historical performance has a greater influence on the quality index.

If I make changes to my ad, how long does it take before my quality index is affected?

Any changes you make to your ad start impacting your quality index right away. As more impressions are generated over time, the overall effect on your quality index will be more reflective of your changes.

Can I get a quality index for a specific keyword/ad combination, instead of an aggregate score for the ad?

In order to calculate the overall quality index for each ad, the quality index for each individual keyword-ad combination is factored in. However, only the overall quality index is displayed.

Can I see my competitors’ quality index?

No. Advertisers can see the quality index for their own ads only. However, since your quality index is a relative measure (meaning, it takes into account how well your ad performs against other ads displayed at the same time) it factors in your competitors’ performance.

Why do you remove low quality ads from search results?

We filter out low quality ads to improve the search experience of our users. Our analysis has shown that improving the collective quality of ads shown for a particular search term improves click-through rates.

Do you filter out ads in the search results you provide to outside distribution partners, or does this only apply to results on Yahoo!?

We do filter out low quality ads from the search results we provide to our distribution partners and publishers, as well as from results displayed on Yahoo!.

My quality is low but instead of being shown with a lower rank my listing is not showing at all. Why?

An ad with a very low quality index score may not be displayed if our systems determine that it is not relevant for a particular search query. However, the ad will remain active. In this case, we strongly suggest making changes to your ad to improve its quality.

If my quality index is one or two bars, does that automatically mean that my ad will be filtered?

Not necessarily, but any ad with a low quality index is in danger of not being displayed in search results. As a result, we recommend that when you see that an ad’s quality index is low, you take immediate action to improve its quality.

How can I prove that I’ve improved the quality of my ads if you won’t display them?

Our systems constantly evaluate the quality of an ad based on expected performance and historical performance. In the absence of historical performance data, expected performance will be used to calculate ad quality, so there is no “penalty” for the lack of historical performance data. In other words, when you create a new ad or change a current ad, your ad quality is based on various relevance factors considered by Yahoo’s ranking algorithms. These relevance factors for the specific keyword and ad help us determine the likelihood that your new/revised ad will be clicked.

How can I improve my quality index?

To improve your quality index, focus on making your ads as compelling as possible (while keeping the ad very relevant to the keyword and landing page), so that users will be more likely to click on them, thereby possibly increasing click-through rate.

Here are some tips to help improve your click-through rate:

Create different versions of your ads and use ad testing to help you determine which ads perform best. Try testing different copy strategies, different offers or different display URLs to see what works best.
Look at the ads of your competitors. Are your ads as compelling? Is your offer as strong as it could be? Consider including a special offer in your ad to encourage users to click.
Make sure that all of the keywords in your ad group are highly relevant to the ads and geographic settings for which they are displayed. For example, if one or more keywords in your ad group are not performing well, consider moving those keywords into another ad group and writing ads that are highly relevant to those keywords.
For best results, be sure to include your keyword in the title and description of your ad. Use the Insert Keyword feature to help you do that automatically.

I followed your tips but my quality index is still low – what else can I do?

Sometimes refining your ads to get the best click-through rate requires a bit of experimentation. Keep testing different versions of your ad, as well as different offers. For example, if you offer free shipping, try including that in your ad copy. Or, promote a special sale.

Does changing my bid affect my quality index?

No, changing your bid will not impact your quality index.

If my ad quality is low, will increasing my bid help ensure my ad is displayed?

Bid doesn’t affect your ad quality. In our Sponsored Search system, ads are ranked based on a combination of your bid and your ad’s quality.

To ensure that our system determines that your ad is relevant to the user’s search query and is thus eligible to be displayed, we recommend that you focus your efforts on improving your ad’s quality.

However, in some cases, it is possible that your ad is not being displayed due to a combination of a low bid and low ad quality. In this case--and provided there are other ads being displayed for the keyword in question--it is possible that a bid increase might result in the ad being displayed. But always focus on improving your ad quality first. In some cases, higher quality ads may allow for a lower bid and/or receive better placement on the results page.

What has more impact on my position – my bid or my ad quality?

In general, your bid and your quality index equally impact the position in which your ad is displayed. You can gain an understanding of your ad quality by looking at your quality index.

How does the organization of my ad groups affect ad quality?

Using keywords that are not closely related to the ads in their ad group can decrease the likelihood of your ads being clicked, which can lower your ads’ quality index.

Remember, both an ad's quality (its historical and expected performance) and bid amount are considered in determining an ad’s position in search results.

Keywords should be grouped in the same ad group only if they are closely related and it makes sense for them to use the same ad copy. Grouping keywords into relevant ad groups also makes it easier to:

Craft ads that are more specific and relevant to your keywords.
Test different landing pages—and potentially increase conversion rates.

For example, if you sell electronic products, you may want to place keywords related to “camera”, “video games” and “DVD players” into separate ad groups. This enables you to write ad that are specific to those items. You may also consider grouping individual or smaller groups of similar keywords into an ad group to get a better read on your ads’ quality index.

If you have the same keyword in multiple Ad Groups, and both are live, how is it decided which one will show?

If the same keyword appears in two different ad groups, which ad is triggered depends on a number of factors. The entire context of the user’s search query is considered. For example, if there are any geographic implications to the user’s search query and the campaign in which one of the ads appears has a geo-targeting setting that is relevant, that ad should be displayed. If all else is equal, the ad with the highest bid and quality combination should be displayed.

Does the quality index take Content Match and advanced match type traffic into account?

The quality index is tracked separately for Sponsored Search and Content Match ads--ads that use both distribution tactics will receive a quality index for each tactic.

For Sponsored Search, our systems independently calculate your ad’s quality for the both the Advanced and Standard match types, but the quality index that is displayed reflects the Standard match type only.

If a client has the same keyword in several accounts (going to different URLs), will they be able to make sure that only one ad shows up at a time? This is a feature available on Google.

If you have multiple accounts that have keywords in common, it is possible that more than one of your ads will appear simultaneously if they are all relevant to the user’s search query and they each feature a URL with a unique domain. For best results, keep the titles and descriptions unique for each URL and focus on the distinct selling points of each property.

Should brand terms be included within a particular ad group or separated out? What is impact of Ad Group on where they are run?

In general, you should always group keywords that are very similar in the same ad group. Look at your ads and be sure that they are relevant to all of the keywords in the ad group.

For brand keywords specifically, you can either include them in an ad group with other keywords that are relevant to the ad(s) that will be displayed or group all of your branded terms for a particular product category together.

Does revising my ad reset my score? Do any other changes reset the score?

In general, any changes you make to your ad start impacting your quality index right away. As more impressions are generated, over time the overall effect on your quality index will be more reflective of your changes.

What is a landing page? Does my landing page play a role in quality index? If so, how?
A landing page is the page that you designate to appear when your ad is clicked.

Your landing page may be considered to a certain extent in calculating your quality index. We recommend as a best practice that you choose a landing page that relates very closely to your ad text. This can also help you maximize your conversion rate. Here are some additional tips for improving your landing pages:

The landing page should take users directly to the product or service described in your ad.
Make your landing page actionable by including a specific call to action that corresponds to your marketing objective. In other words, close the sale, encourage the user to leave contact information or promote the availability of a download.
Make the page easy to use. The transaction process should be short and simple and the page should be uncluttered.

How can I change my landing page?

You can change a landing page URL at the Ad Group level, or by clicking on each keyword to add a custom URL at the keyword level.

How do I use custom URLs to take users directly to the landing page related to the product or service described in my ad?

Custom URLs are URLs for landing pages that are specific to certain keywords. Just add the URL that you want users to go to after your ad is clicked following a specific keyword search.

Does the algorithmic page rank of my landing pages get factored into the quality index? If so, does landing page choice affect index score? What if my home page has a better page rank than sub-pages?

In some instances, the quality index may take into account other relevance factors such as your algorithmic relevance.

Will you be crawling my site to help determine quality? How often?

In some instances, we will crawl sites to determine the relevance of an ad’s landing page, however the extent to which landing pages will be factored in at this time is small relative to the importance of your click-through rate.

Typically, each ad URL will be crawled once per crawl cycle. Crawl cycles vary from approximately once per week to once per month depending on how often the content on your web site is updated.

Back to Top

Ad Testing

What is ad testing?
How does ad testing work?
Why would I want to use ad testing?
How can I learn more about how to best use ad testing?
How can I use ad testing and ad optimization to help increase performance?
Does ad testing work with Content Match?
How can I use ad testing to increase click-throughs?
What does ad rotation mean?
What is ad optimization?
How do I force a specific ad to be shown with a specific keyword?
How does ad optimization work? What is it based on?
How do I turn ad optimization on or off?
What happens if ad optimization is turned off?
How can I determine which ads perform better?
Does ad optimization work only at the ad group level?

What is ad testing?

Ad Testing is the ability to create multiple ads that will be displayed for all of the keywords within your ad group. These different ads are rotated, so that you can gauge which one delivers the best results (click-throughs, conversions, etc.).

How does ad testing work?

To take advantage of ad testing, just create multiple ads that share the same keywords in a single ad group. Then, we'll automatically rotate the display of these ads when users search using relevant terms.

Why would I want to use ad testing?

The ad testing feature in Sponsored Search can be very helpful, because it automatically rotates different ads to learn which one attracts the most potential customers to your site.

How can I learn more about how to best use ad testing?

You can get information and best practices about ad testing by viewing our ad testing tutorial.

How can I use ad testing and ad optimization to help increase performance?

You can get information and best practices about ad testing by viewing our ad testing tutorial.

Does ad testing work with Content Match?

No, ad testing is not offered on our Content Match product.

How can I use ad testing to increase click-throughs?

We recommend the following to increase your traffic through ad optimization:

Define different strategies for your campaign.
Create an ad group and write ads that reflect these different strategies.
Include the keyword in the titles and descriptions of related ads.
Set up each strategy with a unique message.
Regularly experiment with new ad creative.
Periodically experiment with different landing pages on your site.
Use reports to gauge performance of alternate creative.

What does ad rotation mean?

Ad rotation refers to the alternating display of all the ads you have created for a single ad group. When users search for terms related to your ad group, each of your different ads will be displayed in rotation.

What is ad optimization?

Yahoo! allows you to optimize your ads within an ad group. When the Ad Optimization feature is turned on, Yahoo! will display those ads in your ad group that have been shown to perform better. When Ad Optimization is turned off, all ads within an ad group will be shown in equal proportion.

How do I force a specific ad to be shown with a specific keyword?

If you want only one ad to be displayed for a particular keyword, just write one ad for that ad group.

How does ad optimization work? What is it based on?

If you've created multiple ads for a single ad group, we will display these ads in rotation. After our system has accumulated enough data on the performance of your different ad versions, Ad Optimization will automatically display your best-performing ads more often to provide you with the best possible results.

How do I turn ad optimization on or off?

To turn ad optimization on or off, follow these steps:

Click the "Campaigns" tab.
Choose a campaign.
Click the box next to the ad group for which you would like to turn optimization on or off.
Click the "Optimize Ads" button and turn the Optimize Ads feature on or off as needed.

Note: By default, the ad optimization setting is “on”.

What happens if ad optimization is turned off?

If you turn ad optimization off, each of your ads in a single ad group will be displayed in equal proportion.

How can I determine which ads perform better?

To analyze ad performance:

Go to the Campaigns/Ad Groups/Ads tab.
Review the display rate, quality index, impressions, CTR percentage and total clicks for each ad.

Does ad optimization work only at the ad group level?

Yes, ad optimization can be used only for ad groups, because it rotates and tests ads that are specific to one ad group.

Ad Generator

The FAQs below are for a feature that may only be available to our higher spending advertisers. When your account reaches a certain spend level, this feature can be enabled in your account.

What is the ad generator?
How does the ad generator affect my account?
Why would I want to use the ad generator?
How do I access the ad generator?
How do I know that ad generator will create ads that are grammatically correct and make sense for my products/services?
How does ad generator name the ads it creates?
How many titles and descriptions can I supply to ad generator to create new ads?
Does ad testing only compare the performance of ads that ad generator helped create?
What happens to the ads created by the ad generator if they don’t perform well?
How can I see the ads that were created with the ad generator’s assistance after they’ve been placed in the “live rotation”?

What is the ad generator?

The Ad Generator allows you to combine a variety of ad titles and descriptions to create candidate ads. The Ad Generator then saves the candidate ads in a holding area, where you can view and remove candidates you don't like.

Over the next few days or weeks, ad optimization continually tests your candidate ads and keeps the best performing ads for your ad group. After the process is complete, your ad group will automatically include the highest performing ad.

How does the ad generator affect my account?

The Ad Generator simply makes it easier for you to generate multiple versions of your ads, which can then be tested against each other to determine which perform best. You are not obligated to use the ad generator, and it has no other impact on your account.

Why would I want to use the ad generator?

The ad testing feature in Sponsored Search can be very helpful, because it automatically rotates different ads to learn which one attracts the most potential customers to your site. Ad generator makes it easy to create new ads to see if they can perform better than your current ads.

How do I access the ad generator?

To use the ad generator, follow these steps:

Log into your account.
Click on a campaign name.
Click on an ad group name within that campaign.
Click the “Use the Ad Generator” link, which is next to the “Create New Ad” link.
Follow the instructions to create new ads for your ad group. The more titles and short sentences/descriptions you provide, the more ads that ad generator can help you create.

How do I know that ad generator will create ads that are grammatically correct and make sense for my products/services?

Ad generator attempts to create ads that are grammatically correct and are consistent with the keywords you’re using. However, we recommend that you review the suggested ads from the ad generator and delete those that you don’t like, for any reason, before they “go live.”

How does ad generator name the ads it creates?

Ad generator assigns names to the ads it helps you create based on the name of the ad group and the date they were created, but offers an opportunity to change the names as you see fit before they “go live.”

How many titles and descriptions can I supply to ad generator to create new ads?

For each individual ad generation session, you can enter as many as:

Three titles
Four short sentences (portions of descriptions)
Three complete descriptions of 70 or fewer characters
One display URL
One destination URL

Does ad testing only compare the performance of ads that ad generator helped create?

No, the ad testing feature rotates all ads within an ad group, whether created manually or with the ad generator’s assistance.

What happens to the ads created by the ad generator if they don’t perform well?

Ads created by the ad generator are temporarily stored in a “draft” area of your ad group, separate from the ads you manually create. They are then systematically moved into the ad group, made “live” and tested for performance. Ads that are determined to be poor performers are automatically deleted. You can view deleted ads by changing the advanced search filter settings in the Ads tab of the Ad Group Details page.

How can I see the ads that were created with the ad generator’s assistance after they’ve been placed in the “live rotation”?

When ad generator ads are “live,” they are visible in the Ads tab of the Ad Group details page with the ads you have manually created. Ads created by the ad generator that are still in “draft” status are stored in a separate area of your ad group from the ads you manually create. You can view these ads by clicking the “View Generated Ads” link, which is underneath the “Most Displayed Ad” box.

Traffic Quality

We are committed to constantly improving the quality of traffic we provide to you. Some account features designed to assist you in monitoring your traffic and providing transparency into the traffic you receive are listed below:

Click-through Protection
Blocked Domains
Pricing
Click Filter Report
Ad Delivery Report

Click-through Protection

What happens if someone keeps clicking repetitively on my ad?
What is the Click Protection System?
What is click fraud?
Does Yahoo! Search Marketing monitor the effectiveness of its Click Protection System?
How do I know the Click Protection System is working?
If the Click Protection System addresses click fraud, does that mean that all other clicks will convert?
Will your Click Protection System detect if my competitor tries to click on my links?
Does your click protection system filter out spiders and robots?
What can I do if I have questions about the clicks for which I have been charged?
How does Yahoo! protect me from click fraud?

What happens if someone keeps clicking repetitively on my ad?
The Click Protection System uses a variety of techniques to filter clicks before they show up as a charge on your reports. Detecting click fraud is very complex and requires arduous analysis, and we work hard to develop and update the Click Protection System. Maintaining advertiser satisfaction is a top priority, which is why we also have dedicated employees who are vigilant in their analysis of potential click fraud.

What is the Click Protection System?
The Click Protection System is designed to detect click fraud. We receive billions of searches per month which lead to several million clicks onto ads each day. We strive to ensure that our customers are satisfied with their advertising experience and work to maintain productive and active relationships with advertisers. As part of our effort to maintain advertiser satisfaction, we utilize the Click Protection System, which includes sophisticated software that evaluates each of our advertisers' clicks.
Our Click Protection System uses search and click data to make both rules-based inferences and pattern recognition-based inferences about which clicks constitute click fraud. While the details cannot be disclosed, the core mechanics involve many data points.

If the data points indicate click fraud, our Click Protection System software marks the identified click in our billing system, and the advertiser is not charged for it. However, the advertiser still receives the click through and we are therefore unable to remove the click from the advertiser's own Web logs. That is, you still get the traffic but you are not charged for it.

What is click fraud?
Yahoo! Search Marketing wants advertisers to understand that traffic quality and click fraud are two very different things. Click fraud is generally considered to be clicks made with bad faith with the sole purpose of generating a charge to the advertiser with zero possibility of a legitimate site visit or transaction occurring. We agree. But from a technical perspective, it is impossible to look into someone's mind at the time they click to see whether they are clicking with bad faith. In other words, we can't read users' minds. Instead, Yahoo! Search Marketing has to look at what identifiable behavior may indicate bad faith. In terms of identifiable behavior, we define click fraud as detected illegitimate bots and certain repetitive clicks. And we have created sophisticated software that identifies this behavior and attempts to filter out charges for these clicks so that you are not billed for them. We do not disclose how we define repetitive clicks or the details about our proprietary technology because we do not want to educate those who are acting in bad faith.
Traffic quality clicks refers to all clicks that are not click fraud, which includes everything from perfectly converting clicks to those that do not convert. It refers to clicks from domestic and international users and clicks from our various distribution channels and products. We realize that advertisers are concerned about traffic quality issues such as receiving traffic from unwanted sources or increased amounts of traffic. While we are not legally obligated to address traffic quality issues, our aspiration is to bring good value to our advertisers. We welcome information from advertisers about traffic quality concerns.

Does Yahoo! Search Marketing monitor the effectiveness of its Click Protection System?
Yes. We don't assume that our Click Protection System technology is perfect. There will always be people who attempt to find and exploit weaknesses in the software. Therefore, clicks are reviewed after the Click Protection System software has run to identify click fraud. When situations arise in which our specialists discover click patterns that seem to suggest click fraud, we may upgrade the Click Protection System to prevent the billing of such clicks in the future as a goodwill effort to maintain customer satisfaction.

How do I know the Click Protection System is working?
Our Click Protection System software is working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. As a result, you may receive clicks for which you are not billed. However, for advertisers to verify the effectiveness of the Click Protection System, they should have a tracking URL specific to Yahoo! Search Marketing in place on all of their ads.
We provide our advertisers with traffic from many sources. This means that an advertiser's Web logs often show a click or a page view as coming from Yahoo! or one of our distribution partners, which can be confusing. A Yahoo! Search Marketing tracking URL removes the possible source of confusion.

Suppose you are the advertiser who owns the site http://www.joesbagels.com. Your tracking URL would be: http://www.joesbagels.com/?source=yahoo.

With the tracking URL, you are able to review your Web logs for the phrase "source=yahoo." You will be able to see the targeted traffic that Yahoo! Search Marketing is delivering to you.

If the Click Protection System addresses click fraud, does that mean that all other clicks will convert?
Just as your local shoe store gets customer traffic that is 'just looking', so do sites on the Internet. Once a potential customer arrives at an advertiser's site, it is that advertiser's challenge to keep that person interested and to provide the right information to close the deal.

Will your Click Protection System detect if my competitor tries to click on my links?
We do not approve of repetitive clicking by competitors on each other's links. Our Click Protection System is designed to recognize certain repetitive clicks and we work to prevent such click from being charged to our advertisers.

Does your click protection system filter out spiders and robots?
Spiders and robots are instructed not to spider our ads. Our Click Protection System is designed to identify the spiders and robots that violate these instructions.

What can I do if I have questions about the clicks for which I have been charged?
Please contact the Yahoo! Search Marketing Customer Solutions department by using the Support Request Form, a link to which is found at upper right-hand corner on nearly all pages in your account. Enter your request and attach any relevant documents before submitting your inquiry. A Customer Solutions representative will review your account and contact you directly.

How does Yahoo! protect me from click fraud?
Yahoo Search Marketing has a very sophisticated Click Protection System that is designed to detect click fraud. We receive billions of searches per month which lead to several million clicks onto ads each day. We strive to ensure that our customers are satisfied with their advertising experience and work to maintain productive and active relationships with advertisers. As part of our effort to maintain advertiser satisfaction, we utilize the Click Protection System, which includes sophisticated software that evaluates each of our advertisers' clicks.

Our Click Protection System uses search and click data to make both rules-based inferences and pattern recognition-based inferences about which clicks constitute click fraud. While the details cannot be disclosed, the core mechanics involve many data points.

Blocked Domains

What are Blocked Domains?
When I block or unblock domains, how long until it takes effect?
How should I use Blocked Domains?
How does using Blocked Domains affect my account?
How many domains can I block per account?
Can I block certain domains specifically for one campaign/ad group?
Can I block domains by keyword?
Does using Blocked Domains block both Sponsored Search and Content Match traffic?
Does using Blocked Domains block traffic from a site that isn’t coming from my Yahoo! ads?
How do I set up my Blocked Domains?

What are Blocked Domains?

As you know, your Sponsored Search and Content Match ads can appear outside of the Yahoo! network, throughout our partner distribution network. The Blocked Domains feature lets you specify websites or sections of a website in our partner distribution network on which you don’t want your ads to appear.

This feature can be accessed on the Account Summary page under the Administration tab, by clicking the “Submit Domains” link next to “Blocked Domains.”

When I block or unblock domains, how long until it takes effect?

It can take as many as three business days for a newly submitted blocked domain to take effect.

How should I use Blocked Domains?

To take advantage of the Blocked Domains feature, we recommend that you:

Determine which, if any, sites or pages in our publisher network you might want to block for competitive reasons, or because you simply don’t wish to appear on.
Consider using the Ad Delivery Report to view information about the URLS where your ads are being displayed and the performance on those sites. You can then use this information to help inform your decision regarding which domains to block.
Review data from your weblogs, account reports and other account data, and determine which, if any, sites or pages in our publisher network aren’t providing adequate performance based on your business goals.
Add those domains, sub-domains or directories to your list of blocked domains via the Account Summary page under the Administration tab in your account.

Keep in mind that the quality of traffic coming from a particular site can improve over time. If you block a domain and never unblock it to check its quality, you may be losing out on valuable traffic.

Learn more about Blocked Domains

How does using Blocked Domains affect my account?

If you block one or more domains that are regularly sending you Sponsored Search traffic, your monthly traffic volume and click charges may decline, but the extent of this decline could vary depending on the keywords you are using. Blocking a single website from our publisher network usually shouldn’t significantly change either your traffic volume or click charges. This is because, for most advertisers, the Yahoo! network drives more traffic than from any other partner site, and Yahoo.com domains cannot be blocked with the Blocked Domains feature.

How many domains can I block per account?

You can block up to 500 domains per account, including an entire domain (example: example.net), a subdomain (example: subdomain.example.net), or a directory (one or two levels down) in a particular domain (examples: example.net/directory or example.net/directory1/direcory2).

Can I block certain domains specifically for one campaign/ad group?

No, you can only block domains at the account level.

Can I block domains by keyword?

No, you can only block domains at the account level.

Does using Blocked Domains block both Sponsored Search and Content Match traffic?

Yes, you can use Blocked Domains to block both Sponsored Search and Content Match traffic from particular domains.

Does using Blocked Domains block traffic from a site that isn’t coming from my Yahoo! ads?

No, using the Blocked Domains feature in your Yahoo! Search Marketing account only blocks your ads from appearing in the sponsored results section(s) of the sites you block. If that site also displays a listing for your site in its algorithmic web results, those listings are not blocked.

How do I set up my Blocked Domains?

To add to or edit your list of blocked domains, follow these steps:

Log in to your account.
Click the “Administration” tab.
Select the “Accounts” section.
Next to “Blocked Domains,” either click “Submit Domains” or “Edit.”
Complete the provided steps to block (or unblock) the domains.

Learn more about Blocked Domains

Pricing

How is the price of my click charges related to the quality of my traffic sources?
Do these adjustments to my click charges change how much I need to bid?
How does your assessment of the quality of my traffic sources and adjustment of my click charges affect my account?
How do you assess the quality of a partner/publisher?
Can I find out the amount of the discounts and/or premiums I have received, or how much by partner?
How will I know if I am getting any discounted and/or premium traffic?
Do the adjustments affect Content Match traffic, too?
How much will my cost per click be?
Can I get a list of your partners and by what percentage you adjusted my click charges based on their traffic?
Will the adjustments to my click charges that I receive be factored into the forecasts of costs and budget estimates I see in my account?
Why do I still seem to be getting traffic that doesn’t convert from certain sites?
I am getting traffic from a certain referring URL that I believe should be adjusted based on how many customers it delivers for me. Can I check to see if that traffic is being assessed, and how my click charges are being adjusted based on the quality of the traffic source?
What if I do not want traffic from a particular source at all, regardless of the price-per-click I end up being charged?

How is the price of my click charges related to the quality of my traffic sources?

As you know, when you advertise with Yahoo!, your traffic can come from both Yahoo! sites and partners' sites in our distribution network. We make adjustments to your click charges based on our assessment of the performance of traffic coming from sources within our distribution network. This can include discounts on click charges for lower-performing traffic, and potential premiums on click charges for higher-performing traffic.

Do these adjustments to my click charges change how much I need to bid?

Our assessment of the quality of our traffic sources does not need to affect how you place your bids on keywords. Adjustments based on those assessments are automatically applied to your click charges at the time of the click. However, based on your analysis of how much you are saving from our adjustments to your click charges, you may wish to utilize those savings by experimenting with bidding higher on some keywords to gain a higher position in search results and more traffic.

How does your assessment of the quality of my traffic sources and adjustment of my click charges affect my account?

There is no action required on your part; adjustments are automatically applied to your click charges where they are warranted.

How do you assess the quality of a partner/publisher?

A publisher’s quality is based upon our assessment of its ability to deliver more interested, high-value potential customers to you. We take multiple factors into account, including conversion rate, when assessing a partner’s quality..

Can I find out the amount of the discounts and/or premiums I have received, or how much by partner?

Unfortunately, this information is currently not available.

How will I know if I am getting any discounted and/or premium traffic?

While we will not be providing specific information on the discounts and/or premiums you are receiving, as you manage your search marketing campaigns, you may find that your average cost-per-click has gone down since we began adjusting your click charges based on the performance of traffic sources (provided, of course, that you do not change your bid or ad creative).

Do the adjustments affect Content Match traffic, too?

Yes, they apply to both Content Match and Sponsored Search.

How much will my cost per click be?

You may be charged less for certain clicks than you otherwise would pay, depending on the overall quality of the traffic source on which your ad appears.

Can I get a list of your partners and by what percentage you adjusted my click charges based on their traffic?

Due to proprietary reasons and the ever-changing nature of the marketplace, we do not publish a list of partners with their associated adjustment percentage.

Will the adjustments to my click charges that I receive be factored into the forecasts of costs and budget estimates I see in my account?

Yes, when you go through the campaign creation process in your Sponsored Search account, the estimates in the forecasting tool are designed to reflect the potential impact of these quality adjustments and can help you set your budgets accordingly.

Why do I still seem to be getting traffic that doesn’t convert from certain sites?

The volume of traffic that you receive is not impacted by any performance-based pricing adjustments we may make; they only impact the amount you are charged for clicks from certain sites, based on the quality of the traffic they provide. As you manage your search marketing campaigns, you may find that your average cost-per-click has gone down since we implemented this enhancement to pricing (provided, of course, that you do not change your bid or creative).

I am getting traffic from a certain referring URL that I believe should be adjusted based on how many customers it delivers for me. Can I check to see if that traffic is being assessed, and how my click charges are being adjusted based on the quality of the traffic source?

At this time we do not provide the capability to monitor adjustments applied to traffic from a specific URL or partner. Of course, if you have questions or concerns about traffic that you have received from a specific partner, please contact our Customer Solutions department using the Support Request Form, a link to which is found at the upper-right corner of nearly all pages in your account.

What if I do not want traffic from a particular source at all, regardless of the price-per-click I end up being charged?

We currently offer the ability for advertisers to opt-out of particular sources of traffic using our Blocked Domains feature. Learn more about Blocked Domains.

Click Filter Report

What is the Click Filter Report?
Where can I find the Click Filter Report?
What does the Click Filter Report tell me?
Why have you added this report?
What should I do with this information?
I think you should be filtering more of the clicks I receive.
How often is the Click Filter Report updated?
How much money did I save from the clicks that were filtered?
Where did invalid clicks listed on the report come from?/How can I know which site is sending me invalid traffic, so I can block it?
What can I do to decrease the number of invalid clicks?
How did Yahoo! find the clicks that were shown as filtered in my report?
How many click protection filters do you have?

What is the Click Filter Report?

The Click Filter Report is a new report available in your account interface that provides information on the number of clicks on your ads that our Click Protection System has identified as invalid, and, as a result, we did not charge you for.

Where can I find the Click Filter Report?

You can find the Click Filter Report in the same location as all other account reports, by clicking the "Reports" tab, then selecting "Click Filter" under the "Traffic Quality Reports" section in the Reports Navigator on the left side of the screen.

What does the Click Filter Report tell me?

The Click Filter Report provides information for the time frame you designate on the number of clicks on your ads that our Click Protection System has identified as invalid, and, as a result, we did not charge you for. You can customize the report to include or exclude the following data columns:

Impressions
Clicks
Invalid Clicks
Invalid Click Rate
Click-through Rate (CTR)
Cost
Average Cost-per-Click (CPC)

Additionally, if you are using our analytics tools, you will also have the following columns available in the Click Filter Report:

Assists
Click Conversion Rate
Conversions
Cost per Conversion
Revenue
ROAS (Return-on-Ad-Spend)

You can choose to view this data across your entire account or by campaign, by distribution tactic, or by specifying certain campaigns by name via the search function. If you have multiple accounts, the report can display data from all of your accounts simultaneously.

Why have you added this report?

We believe that this report will provide greater transparency to advertisers regarding click activity and filtering, and help in our overall efforts to protect advertisers from receiving invalid clicks. In addition, many advertisers have asked us to be more specific about the number of clicks that we identify as invalid and consequently do not charge for. We have created this report in response to those requests.

What should I do with this information?

The information in this report is provided to help you understand the number of clicks that were discarded by our Click Protection System. There is no further action required on your part.

I think you should be filtering more of the clicks I receive.

Our proprietary Click Protection System is a sophisticated software system that attempts to identify clicks by illegitimate bots, certain repetitive clicks and other unusual clicks, then automatically filters out related charges for these clicks so you aren't billed for them. The information in the Click Filter Report reflects the work of the Click Protection System.

Of course, we are happy to assist you if you believe that there were additional clicks that were not filtered properly. If this is the case, please contact the Yahoo! Search Marketing Customer Solutions department by clicking on the "Customer Support" link, which is found at the top right of nearly all pages in your account. Select "Click Protection" as your complaint type, enter your request, and attach any relevant documents (copies of weblogs, etc.) before submitting your inquiry. A Customer Solutions representative will investigate your account and contact you directly. Click here for detailed instructions on submitting your request.

How often is the Click Filter Report updated?

How much money did I save from the clicks that were filtered?

At this time, we are not able to provide that information in the report. You can get a sense for the click charges you may have saved by looking at the number of invalid clicks received and multiplying that by your average cost-per-click.

Where did invalid clicks listed on the report come from?/How can I know which site is sending me invalid traffic, so I can block it?

To protect the integrity of our systems, we do not provide information on the sources of any invalid clicks. Doing so would provide assistance to those who would attempt to find and exploit potential weaknesses in our Click Protection System.

When it comes to using our blocked domains feature, you can often determine which sites or pages may not be performing the way you want based on your business goals by reviewing the data from your web server logs, account reports and other account data.

Learn more about Tracking URLs.

What can I do to decrease the number of invalid clicks?

As an online advertiser, you should pay careful attention to traffic quality issues. Our sophisticated Click Protection System is your first line of defense to catch invalid clicks. But it's also a good idea to monitor your own traffic, which you can do with Yahoo!'s tools. We have created some tips to help your efforts in this regard; you can find them in our Traffic Quality Center at http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/trafficquality/tips_tools.php#1.

How did Yahoo! find the clicks that were shown as filtered in my report?

We use sophisticated software, our proprietary Click Protection System, that attempts to identify clicks by illegitimate bots, certain repetitive clicks, and other unusual clicks, and then filters out related charges for these clicks so you aren't billed for them. We look at what identifiable behaviors may indicate that a click has been made with “bad faith.” Of course, we can't reveal precisely how we define invalid clicks or provide details about our proprietary technology, because we don't want to help the bad actors.

How many click protection filters do you have?

The Click Protection System uses a variety of techniques to filter clicks before they show up as a charge on your reports. Our CTP system currently contains thousands of filters, which we continually update to incorporate new learnings, identified bots, etc.

Detecting invalid clicks is very complex and requires real-time 24-hour-a-day 7-days-a-week analysis, and we work continuously to develop and update the Click Protection System. Maintaining advertiser satisfaction is a top priority, which is why we also have dedicated significant resources and employees who are vigilant in their analysis of potential click fraud.

Ad Delivery Report

Can you provide historical performance data for these partners (prior to launch of the Ad Delivery Report)?
Why do I have lower CPCs for some partner sites and higher CPCs for other partners (such as Yahoo.com)? Why are you charging me more?
Does the Ad Delivery Report show billable clicks only? Where are the invalid clicks coming from?
The traffic I’m receiving from a Yahoo! site is not performing well for me. Can I block it?
What do you classify as "Unknown" traffic?
Can I still use the Ad Delivery Report if I’m using a third-party analytics package?

Can you provide historical performance data for these partners (prior to launch of the Ad Delivery Report)?

Unfortunately, we are unable to provide performance data on partners (or domains or URLs) on dates prior to the launch date of the Ad Delivery Report.

Why do I have lower CPCs for some partner sites and higher CPCs for other partners (such as Yahoo.com)? Why are you charging me more?

As you may know, when you advertise with Yahoo! your traffic can come from both Yahoo! sites and partners’ sites in our distribution network. As part of an ongoing effort to strengthen our marketplace, Yahoo! has expanded the adjustments we make to click charges. These adjustments are based on our assessment of the performance of traffic coming from various sources within our distribution network. They may include deeper discounts on click charges for lower-performing traffic, and potential premiums on click charges for higher-performing traffic.

Does the Ad Delivery Report show billable clicks only? Where are the invalid clicks coming from?

The Ad Delivery Report, like every other performance report, displays only the valid clicks for which you are charged. Our Click Protection System uses a variety of techniques to filter clicks before they show up as a charge on your reports. This software is working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and as a result, you may receive clicks for which you are not billed.

The traffic I’m receiving from a Yahoo! site is not performing well for me. Can I block it?

No; at this time, our blocked domains feature does not allow you to block traffic from a Yahoo! domain.

What do you classify as "Unknown" traffic?

In a small number of cases, we are unable to reliably identify the page on which an ad impression was displayed. When this occurs, we tag the traffic as belonging to an “unknown” source. Please note that we work with our partners to spot and rectify such instances.

Can I still use the Ad Delivery Report if I’m using a third-party analytics package?

Yes, you can still use the report in any way that will help you manage your account. Please note that data on your return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) and cost-per-acquisition (CPA) will only be displayed in the report if you are using the Conversion Only or Full Analytics tools in your account. We recommend using ROAS and CPA as the key factors in using the Ad Delivery Report to evaluate any changes to your network distribution settings. Changing your network distribution settings based on volume of clicks alone is not advised, because clicks from different sources may offer higher or lower value to your business. View best practices for using the Ad Delivery Report with Blocked Domains.

Analytics

The following FAQs are related to conversion-only analytics and full analytics. Full analytics is an advanced feature that is currently available to our higher spending advertisers only. When your account reaches a certain spend level, this feature can be enabled in your account.

What are Yahoo! Analytics?
What is the difference between conversion-only and full analytics?
If I don’t need analytics to use the Campaign Optimization feature, why would I use them?
How is data collected?
How do I install Yahoo! Analytics?
How does Yahoo! Analytics count conversions?
Does Yahoo! Analytics show the number of visitors received by domain and what search terms brought them to the page?
Does Yahoo! Analytics segment visitors to my site so I can analyze activity by visitor type?
Why are the conversion metrics shown by Yahoo! Analytics and another tool I use different?
How many assists can be attributed to a conversion?

What are Yahoo! Analytics?

Yahoo! conversion-only analytics provides Yahoo! advertisers with valuable data on website activity from their Sponsored Search and Content Match traffic. This data can help advertisers market their Yahoo! campaigns more effectively by determining their highest- and lowest-performing campaigns, ad groups and keywords.

Yahoo! full analytics provides advertisers with valuable data from Sponsored Search and Content Match traffic, as well as tracking data for other online marketing activities.

What is the difference between conversion-only and full analytics?

Both allow you to track valuable conversion, assist and revenue data from Yahoo! Sponsored Search and Content Match by campaign, ad group, and keyword, but full analytics provides the following additional features:

Includes an implementation consultation and technical support
Tracks third-party channels of online advertising
Tracks up to five prospect/conversion events (add to cart, purchases, completion of forms, etc.)
Tracks different visitor types (new, returning, customer, repeat customer)
Tracks conversion funnel "abandonment" at key points in the conversion process
Provides key data points in your account’s dashboard, and in multi-channel performance and traffic reports (everything in conversion-only analytics)

If I don’t need analytics to use the Campaign Optimization feature, why would I use them?

Beyond assisting in campaign optimization, Yahoo! Analytics can provide valuable insight into your website’s visitor activity. This information can be used to improve both an advertiser’s web site and its online advertising effort.

Using Yahoo! full analytics, an advertiser will also get:

Visitor abandonment data on sign-up and shopping cart pages
Information on leads, browsers, assists, prospects and conversions
Referring website information
Traffic data from third-party advertising channels (email, affiliate banner ads or links, other sponsored ads like MSN or Google, shopping comparison sites, etc.)
Return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) data
Days-to-conversion data
The ability to track multiple conversion events

How is data collected?

Data is collected through the use of JavaScript tags. Advertisers place a small piece of JavaScript code onto their pages. When an ad is clicked and an advertiser's tagged web page is displayed, the tag initiates the Yahoo! Analytics system that collects information about the site visit. This information is then processed by Yahoo! and presented in the advertiser’s Yahoo! Search Marketing reports for review.

How do I install Yahoo! Analytics?

Getting started with Yahoo! Analytics begins with installing the tag(s). There are three tags with full analytics (universal, prospect and conversion) and one tag with conversion-only analytics (conversion).

The tags are used to track four types of visitor interactions with your site:

Lead - A visitor who lands on your site after clicking on one of your tracked ads
Browser - A visitor who navigates one page beyond the landing page
Prospect - A visitor who reaches a page with the Yahoo! Analytics prospect tag
Conversion - A visitor who reaches a page with the Yahoo! Analytics conversion tag

Either you or your webmaster can complete the tag installation process quickly and easily with the help of our Analytics Setup Guide.

How does Yahoo! Analytics count conversions?

Yahoo! Analytics counts a conversion when the conversion tag is in the source of a HTML page with the universal tag below it. Conversions are tracked back to the last 30 click-through events for up to 45 days. Yahoo! Analytics can further track conversions for returning visitors for up to four years to give you an idea of the lifetime value of your new customer acquisitions.

Does Yahoo! Analytics show the number of visitors received by domain and what search terms brought them to the page?

Yahoo! full analytics tracks the number of visitors from pre-identified channels (i.e., advertising providers) and from individual domain partners within those channels.

For example, a Yahoo! Sponsored Search ad may be clicked on one of our partner sites. In that case, Yahoo! full analytics will track how many leads were generated by that channel and the domain that referred the ad (e.g., yahoo.com, cnn.com, etc). Yahoo! conversion-only analytics provides metrics on keywords by channel, but not by domain.

Does Yahoo! Analytics segment visitors to my site so I can analyze activity by visitor type?

By default, Yahoo! Analytics tracks five visitor types with no additional configuration:

New
Returning Customer (one conversion)
Repeat Customer (two or more conversions)
Cookies-Off

The New segment contains visitors who have visited your site for the first time or who have deleted the Yahoo! Analytics cookie since their last visit. The Returning Customer segment contains visitors who have visited your site at least once before. The Customer (one conversion) segment contains visitors who have converted once before on your site. The Repeat Customer segment contains visitors who have completed more than two conversions previously on the website. The Cookies-Off segment contains visitors who have set their browser to reject cookies (activity in the current session is tracked).

Why are the conversion metrics shown by Yahoo! Analytics and another tool I use different?

Typically, count differences arise from different tools using different counting methods and/or definitions in developing metrics. To better understand the differences, it is important to understand how each vendor counts the metric in question. The technology behind Yahoo! Analytics has been in use for over seven years and has been tested against nearly a billion users. If you believe that Yahoo! Analytics metrics may be in error, please contact our Customer Service department.

How many assists can be attributed to a conversion?

Assists show the number of times a keyword or ad contributed to a conversion or other marketing activity that was credited to another keyword. Assists must occur within 45 days of the conversion event to be recorded. Within any 45-day period, a conversion event can have a maximum of 30 recorded assists.

Troubleshooting

Why can’t I log into my account?
I forgot my password. How do I log into my account?
Why can’t I see my ad?
Why can’t I see my geo-targeted ads? What should I do?
My ad has a high QI, but it still isn't being displayed. How can that be?
Why was my credit card or debit card billed multiple times in one month?
Why are my Campaign Summary stats different from my Billing Summary charges?
What does Adjustment in my billing summary mean?
Why was my payment declined? What should I do?

Why can’t I log into my account?

Here is a list of common log-in problems that you may be experiencing:

Your PasswordThe password field is case-sensitive, so check to see if you are using the correct capitalization. If you have forgotten your password, click “Forgot your password” on the log-in page. On the Forgot Password page, enter your username and click ”Submit”. Instructions on resetting your password will be sent to your email address.
Your usernameThe username field is case-sensitive, so make sure you are using the correct capitalization. Also, remove any spaces before or after your username.
Login PageIn addition, you may want to check to see if you are logging in to the correct log-in page. The correct URL can be found at marketingsolutions.yahoo.com.

If you still have trouble logging in to your account, please contact us and provide as much detail as you can, including any error messages you have received.

I forgot my password. How do I log into my account?

If you have forgotten your password, click "Forgot your password” on the log-in page. The link to this page is located next to the Log In button on your account log-in page.

On the Forgot Password page, you will need to enter your username to initiate the reset password process. Information on resetting your password will be sent to your account’s primary email address.

If you cannot recall your username, you can email your inquiry to feedback-ysm@yahoo-inc.com.

Please include the following information in your email so we may better assist you:

Your first and last name
The account ID
The primary email address associated with the contact on the account

Why can’t I see my ad?

Here are reasons why you might not be able to see a newly created ad:

Account Not Activated

To activate your account and begin displaying your ads, you must enter valid billing information. Your ads may begin to be displayed and accrue costs shortly after that.

Ad Editorial Status

All ads must comply with our editorial guidelines and advertising policies. If your ad is awaiting review, we'll try to complete the review process as soon as possible.

Ad Location

If your ad’s ranking is not high enough to place it on the first page of search results for a certain keyword, it may appear on a subsequent search result page. To see additional pages of ads, click "Next" at the bottom of the search results page, or click the "More Sponsored Links" link below the column of ads. If you want your ad to be displayed closer to or on the first page more often, you may be able to improve your ad’s position in search results by improving your ad’s quality and/or increasing your bid.

Server Delay

There may be a brief delay after you create your ads but before the time they are actually displayed. Sometimes it takes our servers longer than usual to upload and process your ads. Try checking for your ad again later.

Here are reasons why you may have seen your ad before, but can't anymore:

Daily Spending Limit

When you create your ads and select your keywords, you can set a campaign daily spending limit, which is the maximum amount you want to spend per day on your campaign. If your daily spending limit is set lower than the amount necessary to receive maximum traffic, we may slow or even stop the display of your ads for that day to stay within your daily spending limit. To maximize your potential traffic, consider changing your daily spending limit to meet the recommended amount.

Declined Ad

If an ad doesn't meet our editorial guidelines, it will not be eligible for display and its editorial status will be shown as "Declined" (or "Removed," if it had once been approved for display). You can view declined or removed ads and keywords in the Editorial Status page, which is located under the Campaigns tab. Here you will be able to find any declined or removed ads in your campaigns and ad groups. If this is the case, please make the needed edits and resubmit your ad to us for review.

Ad performance

A low quality index score may cause the ranking of your ad to drop down in the results. As a result, you may not see your ad in the same place or page as before. To monitor your ads' performance, go to the Ad Group Details page.

Note that any ad with a low quality index may also be in danger of not being displayed in search results. We may filter out low quality ads to improve the search experience of our users. Our analysis has shown that improving the collective quality of ads shown for a particular search term improves click-through rates. As a result, we recommend that when you see that an ad’s quality index is low, you take immediate action to improve its quality.

It is also possible that your ad is not being displayed due to a combination of a low bid and low ad quality. In this case, it is possible that a bid increase would result in the ad being displayed. But always focus on improving your ad quality first. Higher quality ads may allow for a lower bid and/or receive better placement on the results page.

Why can’t I see my geo-targeted ads? What should I do?

When we display your geo-targeted ads, keep in mind that we may identify geographic interest based on the words in relevant search queries and the physical location from which those search queries originated. Physical location can be determined by the computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address, which is assigned by a user's Internet Service Provider (ISP). You might not see your ad if we're unable to determine that location. For example, this might happen if:

The computer from which the search query originated uses an ISP that employs a proxy server, preventing us from identifying the computer's IP address
The search query does not contain a recognizable location-specific term.

Here's what you can do so others see your Ad

If we can't determine the location interest or physical location from which a search query originated, we may display ads targeted to the entire market. To reach potential customers who might not be physically located in your targeted geographic area, consider creating an additional geo-targeted campaign similar to your regionally targeted one—except with region-specific terms in your keywords and ads.

My ad has a high QI, but it still isn't being displayed. How can that be?

Quality index is the overall quality of your ad across all the keywords for which it shows. When you have multiple keywords in your ad group, your ad might perform better on some of the keywords than others. Therefore, a high quality index could still mean that although your ad is performing well overall on most keywords in the ad group, it’s possible that it’s not performing well on the others, which will prevent your ad from displaying when searching for those particular keywords.

We recommend that you structure your ad group so that all of your keywords are as relevant as possible to the ads in the same ad group.

Why was my credit card or debit card billed multiple times in one month?

Every time your account balance is low, your designated payment method will be charged the amount you have pre-set to ensure that your account is not turned off. Please note that your designated payment method may be charged multiple times until your account balance reaches at least the prior three days worth of click charges, or three times your account daily spending limit, whichever is lower.

Why are my Campaign Summary stats different from my Billing Summary charges?

Discrepancies between your Campaign Summary information and your Billing Summary information for the same date range might occur for one or both of the reasons below:

Time Reporting Differences

All data in the Account Performance Reports (including the Campaign Summary report) will be displayed in the time zone in which the account is based. However, Billing Reports will be generated in the Pacific time zone, which may lead to some discrepancies between your Performance and Billing Reports. In addition, billing transactions (including credit card transactions) can sometimes be recorded out of chronological order.

Service Adjustments

From time to time, you might receive adjustments that count as credits toward your account. This means that you're billed less than what's shown on your Campaign Summary.

What does Adjustment in my billing summary mean?

From time to time, you might receive adjustments that count as credits toward your account. This means that you are billed less than what is shown on your Campaign Summary.

Why was my payment declined? What should I do?

Our payment may have been declined due to any of the following reasons:

Incorrect billing address and phone number: Make sure that the billing address listed in your account matches that associated with your payment method.

Credit card limit reached: Check your credit card limit. You may have reached your daily or total credit card limit when we tried to charge your card..Try decreasing your daily spending limit or enter a new credit card with a higher credit limit.

Credit / Debit Card Number: Make sure that the credit card or debit card number is correct and up-to-date.

Credit / Debit Card Expiration date: Review the expiration date on your credit card or debit card. If your card expired, update your credit card or debit card information.

PayPal account out of funds: Make sure funds are available in your PayPal account if Paypal is listed as your payment method.

Yahoo! Help

Save to My Help

Replace an article

Was this information helpful?

Please tell us why you didn’t find this helpful.

Still need help?

My Help

Sign In

Still Need Help?

Got Display?
	Display advertising is graphical advertising that appears on content web pages, in IM applications, email, etc. Learn more here.

Smart Start
	Our Smart Start Guide for new advertisers includes tips and best practices that can assist you with account management. Download it here.