Pricing Update Frequently Asked Questions
Minimum bids for Sponsored Search are no longer fixed at $0.10. Your new minimum bids can be lower or higher than $0.10. Content Match bids currently remain at $0.10. Click here for an overview of the pricing update and best practices.
What has changed about Sponsored Search minimum bids? How can this benefit my account? Does this apply to all keywords? We plan to expand the scope of this initiative over time to a number of keywords and international markets.
What should I do in my account as a result of this change?
We have changed the way we set the minimum bid required to participate in a Sponsored Search keyword market. Previously, the minimum bid for any keyword in our system was $0.10. With this change, the minimum bid required to participate in a keyword market can be higher or lower than $0.10. 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.
In some cases, this change 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 have been introducing since early 2007 should collectively help you reduce your cost-per-click charges when the quality of your ads is higher, or when we discount clicks from certain of our partners’ sites. For more information on these programs, please visit our Traffic Quality Center at http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/trafficquality.
No, not necessarily. With this first phase of the pricing change, some Sponsored Search advertisers may begin to notice that a portion of their keywords have minimum bids of more or less than ten cents. 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. Please note that even for keywords participating in the first phase of this change, many Sponsored Search advertisers will see their minimum bids for some keywords remain at $0.10 (or some other minimum bid amount), either temporarily or in the long term.
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:
Remember, you will want to continually focus on improving the quality of your ads, since it can impact your minimum bid requirements. We recommend identifying at least your most important keywords and track the minimum bids for each one. For more information visit our Help Center here.
How do you determine what my 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.
In general, the enhancements we introduced in 2007 should collectively help you reduce your cost-per-click charges when the quality of your ads is higher, or when we discount clicks from certain of our partners’ sites. 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 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 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. If your bid meets or exceeds your minimum bid, your keyword will continue to be considered for display in relevant search results.
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.
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