YAHOO! has their new Network Distribution (ND) is scheduled to launch on Tuesday, January 19th, 2010. This will allow advertisers to optimize their Internet marketing campaigns based on the source of traffic, control where their ads appear and bid separately on Y! Search and Y! Partners.
Advertisers will have 3 targeting options:
- Entire Network-includes Yahoo! Search and Yahoo! Partners
- Yahoo! Search-includes all Yahoo! O&O; properties and co-branded sites
- Yahoo! Partners-includes all Yahoo! Partners
Advertisers will also be able to premium or discount bid on the Yahoo! Partner Network
- Premium/Discount bidding is done by % only, not dollar amounts
- You CANNOT Premium/Discount bid on the Yahoo! Search Network
- ND does not apply to Content Match
Important Information
Blocking Yahoo! Partners will greatly reduce traffic. Test by maintaining “Entire Network” settings and bid Adjusting. Using the Bid Adjustment may cause some keywords to fall below MRP, which will make them inactive. Your specific campaign objectives will also decide the best use of ND controls.
Utilize the Ad Delivery Report to get insight into where ads are showing on partner sites. Use conversion data to determine which partners to add to blocked domains. Utilize Domain Blocks by adding any low conversion partners to this feature. Conversion Tracking data is crucial for making decisions about which partners to block and place premium or discounted bids on
Best Practices
Avoid blocking Partner Network. You can reference the Ad Delivery Report and max out Blocked Domains to improve performance.
If ROI hasn’t improved within a month, utilize ND by either.
- Using Bid Adjustments (Preferred Method). Maintain targeting Entire Network and Premium/Discount bids on the Partner Network based on performance in the Network Distribution and Ad Delivery Reports
- Duplicate a subset of your high-value campaigns. Set unique bids, ads and Tracking URLs by Network
- After exhausting all of these steps, block the Partner Network as a last resort.