AlphaNumeric#1

Yahoo Search: Sell It, or Keep as a Buffer?

All of the studies over the past few years have shown that a combination of search and display advertising provides the highest return on investment (ROI) to advertisers. So why, when Yahoo is #2 in search and #1 in display would they ever want to sell search????

That's like having the #1 running back and the #2 quarterback on your team and then trading your quarterback. You don't trade your quaterback. You build the team around your top quarterback and top running back.

This is what Yahoo needs to do. They need to build the company more around search and display. They need to get more of their advertisers using a combination of search and display because it will drive the highest resturn for their clients. This is what advertisers want, right? This of course will lead to more spend with Yahoo. So it's a win/win for both Yahoo and their clients.

Here are just some of the studies and articles written about the valuable combination of search and display:

www.comscore.com/mt/mt...

www.specificmedia.com/...

www.emarketer.com/Arti...

www.atlassolutions.com...

www.imediaconnection.c...

Yahoo Launches Ad Campaign to Lure Searchers From Google

But how many of those Google searches are being used to find Yahoo related information?

The data shows that the trend has been increasing of visitors who search for the term "yahoo" on Google.

mattlillig.blogspot.co...

By the way...Google share down and Yahoo share up for September....

blogs.barrons.com/tech...

We Can't Afford a Search Monopoly, Even If It Kills Yahoo

Yahoo will still be a strong competitor to Google. Here's why....

A study run by Yahoo and ComScore entitled “Close the Loop: Understanding Search and Display Synergy,” "found that when combined, search and display advertising deliver profoundly better results than when used independently. The study showed a significant lift in onsite engagement and an increase in online and offline purchasing by consumers who are exposed to integrated campaigns that employ both types of online advertising."

Another study run by Atlas (a Microsoft Company) found "When marketers supplement search with display impressions, they get a significant lift in conversions. Unfortunately, most advertisers that run both search and display are unaware of this...” The study demonstrated that "users exposed to both search and display ads convert at a higher rate: an average of 22 percent better than search alone and 400 percent better than display only."

Yahoo undestands the value of search because of the powerful combination it has with display (which is Yahoo's bread and butter). This is why Apt will be such a strong product. Once display gets going on Apt, search will be rolled onto the platform allowing advertisers to easily buy and sell display and search nder one roof.

For more information about the studies above, you can visit: mattlillig.blogspot.co...

Search vs. Display Ads: The Gap Widens

If advertisers are smart, that trend will change quickly. Here's why....

mattlillig.blogspot.co...

"When marketers supplement search with display impressions, they get a significant lift in conversions. Unfortunately, most advertisers that run both search and display are unaware of this...” The study demonstrated that "users exposed to both search and display ads convert at a higher rate: an average of 22 percent better than search alone and 400 percent better than display only."

Advertisers who focus on only search are risking a 22% lift in conversions.

Hitwise: Google's Search Share Climbs To 71%

Does this report include tool bar searches? Most people that I know don't go to Google.com or search.yahoo.com. They use the Google or the Yahoo! tool bar search. What's the point of this report if tool bar searches are not being tracked and more users are moving to the tool bar for their searches?

Online Ad Spending: It's Getting Ugly Out There

It may be declining in the US but it's growing rapidly in the UK. And this is good for the major search engines, because as the article below states, "...online advertising is mainly made up from paid for search programmes...."

www.techwatch.co.uk/20.../

Microsoft Gets the Blogging Community

"On the other hand I look at a lot of the other technology companies that I'm familiar with. Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Yahoo! (YHOO), and rarely do I see this same level of interaction with bloggers. "

I recommend mattlillig.blogspot.co... (a Yahoo! employee blog)

Many times I'll take the keywords my readers use to find my site (using web analytics) and I'll build a blog post around them.

Using a Google service (like Blogger) to teach people about Yahoo products.....priceless...

Why I Sold Most of My Yahoo! Position

@Ed K...

Greed?? If you had a company that was once at over $100/share and now wants to be bought at $31/share would you sell? That's not greed. That's called not balking at the first offer. Especiailly when you know that your stock was just at $31/share in November.

Do think Google really thinks they are worth $434/share right now after recently being over $700 in Nov.

Do you think Microsoft thinks they are worth $27/share after bing at $37 this past November? Do you think if somebody offered $54/share for Microsoft right now, they would take it? No way.

Yahoo is still #1 by far in display advertising, the #1 trafficked web site in the world (reaching half of all internet users), and they're #1 for messenger, mail, finance, games, news, sports, personals, comparison shopping, and travel. And being #2 in search is not the worst thing when you're still making hundreds of million of dollars. They also own large properties in asia like 40% of Alibaba and Yahoo Japan.

Would you sell on the first offer if you had all of this? C'mon, have you ever negotiated a deal?

Why I Sold Most of My Yahoo! Position

I don't think that was a good move on your part. Perhaps you haven't done enough homework when looking at what Yahoo has accomplished since the offer was made. They're changing the way we search on mobile, they're opening up their search platform, they're building an easier-to-use advertising network, they're still buying companies to enhance their current products, and they made the tough decision to lay off 1,000 employees. If Yahoo had completely laid down after the Microsoft proposal then I would have agreed with you 100%.

But that isn't the case here. This is a company that is not laying down. What shareholder wouldn't want to see that?!?! Yahoo has been on a mission these past few months! If anything, I think they're really fighting for their sharholders to show them that they do have what it takes to put the "YAHHH-HOOOOOOO!" back into Yahoo. I applaud them for going out with a fight. It shows me that Yang has the guts to go out with guns-a-blazin' and to do whatever he can to bring Yahoo back to its glory days.

And as they say, "No guts, no glory".