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Yahoo! Panama Roundup

If you’re an advertiser with Yahoo! Search Marketing (YSM), you may be aware that Yahoo! is currently in the process of rolling out its belated upgrade to the YSM system, named Yahoo! Panama (is that a code name or the final product name?).

YSM is in serious need of some renovations, as it sometimes feels like the software that powers YSM is the same that was first developed by Overture when they started pay-per-click advertising back in 1999.

According to the Yahoo! Publisher Network blog, the following are the key features of the upgrade:

• An intuitive new control panel - Using this completely redesigned, easy-to-navigate control panel will help you see what’s working and what’s not.
• Fast ad activation - Most ads should now go live within minutes.
• Easy ad testing - You’ll be able to test multiple versions of an ad to find the message that works best.
• Geo-targeting - Target your customers as broadly or narrowly as you want on a geographic basis, and customize your ads to help control costs.
• Campaign budgeting, forecasting and scheduling - You’ll be able to create, budget and schedule your individual advertising campaigns for greater control over your advertising strategy and spending.
• See-through visibility - The new interface can will help you understand how well your ads are performing relative to your competitors.

Quick ad activation by itself is a seller for me - the current 3 to 5 day turn around for new or edited ads is rediculous, given the speed at which markets move these days. Luckily, the time from submission to approval does seem to have been reduced recently. The other features seem to have been added to keep up with Google Adwords, but that is no bad thing.

I’m a little unsure when UK advertisers will be able to get their hands on Panama (Q1 2007?), and at present it seems that only invited advertisers in the US will get their hands on the new system. But the following list of posts should give you an idea of the kind of experience you can expect when it is finally available to everyone.

• Changes at Yahoo Search Marketing, from the Yahoo! Publisher Network blog.
• Jensense on the Yahoo Influencers event for Panama release.
• Yahoo sending invites for upgraded sponsored search from the Online Marketing Blog.
• Search Engine Journal: YSMs new platform goes live.
• Traffick: Panama is finally live, eye-candy from Panama, no turning back.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 22nd, 2006 at 12:39 pm and is filed under Advertising, Yahoo!, Pay-Per-Click. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.