Sunnyvale, California-based Web pioneer Yahoo has blurred the line between the graphical banner  advertisements known as display ads and traditionally text-only ads, with its new Rich Ads in Search test program that shows images, videos and user-input boxes amidst Yahoo search engine results. Some of the advertisers testing the Rich Ads in Search program found that the flashier ads it made possible resulted in ad success rates up as much as 25 percent, Yahoo said Wednesday. Advertiser Videos And Logos Among Yahoo Search Results Additions Yahoo said the new Rich Ads in Search pilot program, which was available only by invitation to certain large advertisers, blended together "the relevance of search with the impact of rich media," by adding "video, images and custom links to search ads." The new search results from advertisers in the test are displayed on a Yahoo search engine that has moved away from the text-only ad links it has used for years, a system that included "a headline, a line of ad copy, [and] a link," Yahoo search marketing blog editor Jeff Sweat wrote in a message announcing the Rich Ads in Search program posted Wednesday on the company's Web site. While noting that the longstanding text-based search ads program "works pretty well," Sweat said that the images, videos and interactive input elements of the new Yahoo program would help advertisers attract visitors. "Yahoo has been testing a new service that lets advertisers add video, images and custom search boxes to their search ads," Sweat wrote in the Wednesday message. In addition to attracting more people to click on their ads, the new Rich Ads for Search program has also brought more brand exposure to participating advertisers, Yahoo said. "They’ve also seen improved brand exposure and conversion rates," Sweat noted. As the economic downturn has worsened many companies have moved advertising budgets away from display ads and into search ad campaigns, which often provide more quantifiable results. Pilot Yahoo Program Offers Drop-down Input Boxes Amidst Search Results While search leader Google has seen strong growth in paid search, Yahoo has seen its market share drop. Yahoo accounted for just 10.5 percent of the paid search marketplace this year, down from the 13.8 percent it held in 2004, according to Web traffic analysis firm eMarketer. Google went from holding a 32.8 percent share of the paid search market to 67.7 percent during the same period, eMarketer noted. Advertisers in the test program, which Yahoo expected to expand over time, are charged a monthly fee to participate, a change from the auction pricing typically used for other search advertising programs. Yahoo has not yet released cost details of the program, however Yahoo vice president for search monetization and distribution Tim Mayer said that using an auction-based system might be possible for a future version of the Rich Ads in Search program. "The Rich Ads in Search program is being shared with a small number of brand advertisers such as Pedigree and Esurance and agencies such as Razorfish," Sweat wrote in the Wednesday announcement. Companies testing the new Yahoo program can "include boxes within the listing that lets users search for their desired product or a store location directly without additional navigation," Sweat said. Companies in the test were also able to "create deep links to relevant pages, which can help drive conversions directly from the Yahoo search results page," according to Yahoo, and to also "include boxes within the listing that lets users search for their desired product or a store location directly without additional navigation," Sweat added. Microsoft and Google have both run smaller tests with similar programs, however the Yahoo Rich Ads in Search program announced Wednesday, and expected to be detailed Thursday by Yahoo, was the most widespread such test yet from any of the leading search engine firms. Yahoo Blurs The Line Between Display And Search Ads With New Rich Ads Program In January Yahoo released fourth quarter financial results showing revenues down 1 percent to $1.80 billion from the same quarter one year earlier, and revenues that increased by 3 percent to $7.2 billion, up from a $6.9 billion figure in 2007. Although Yahoo reported display advertising revenue that fell by 2 percent, search advertising revenue at the  Sunnyvale company rose by 11 percent. Yahoo has limited the pilot Rich Ads in Search program to certain large advertisers that already have video commercials or company logos to display in the test, such as Home Depot and beverage makers Pepsi and SoBe. Yahoo maintained its longstanding second position in the U.S. search marketplace rankings for January, with a 21 percent share up 0.5 percent from the 20.5 percent share it held last December, according to research firm comScore. One member of the popular online discussion forums operated by WebmasterWorld, a community of mostly technically savvy webmasters and search engine marketing (SEM) professionals founded by chief executive Brett Tabke, warned that the new Yahoo Rich Ads in Search program ran the risk of looking "like a banner farm drastically annoying the user." Related Links:
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