Yahoo and Google Alter Ads
The past few days have been eventful for Yahoo! and Google ads, with the former announcing future word limits and the latter altering some colors, functionalities, and formats.
Yahoo! announced last week in a Yahoo! Search Marketing blog post quoting Mark Twain or Blaise Pascal that beginning in May, shorter search ad descriptions will be required for advertisers on its ad network. Currently, ad descriptions are allowed to reach up to 190 characters, but in May this required length will be cut down to 70 characters.
Longer descriptions will still be optional in May, but in June any ad descriptions that exceed the 70-chracter length requirement will be truncated with an ellipsis following the last complete word. These ads with longer descriptions will be continued to be shown on external distribution partner Web sites.
"We’ve found that ads written more concisely give users a better experience and perform better for advertisers. When users are exposed to higher quality search ads you, the advertiser, may attract more interested and enthusiastic potential customers," Michael Mattis said in the blog posting.
The blog post also warns that ads with descriptions that have to be truncated with ellipses after June rolls around could be adversely affected by "a lower Quality Index score and, potentially, a lower ranking in search results."
Google search ads also got a makeover on the same day that Yahoo! made its announcement. The sponsored links above Google’s search results now have a yellow background color, instead of the blue that all Google users have come to know. Also, in order for an actual click to happen, Google requires that a user must click on the actual top line of an ad to be taken to the advertiser’s site.
"Together, these changes help decrease the likelihood that a user will unintentionally click on an ad, while making our highest quality ads more visible," wrote Judy on Google’s Inside AdWords blog.
AdSense ads were also given an aesthetic change. The dull blue "Ads by Google" bar that used to top ad units has been replaced by a slick and prettier "Ads by Google" tab at the bottom of the units.
"After extensive testing and research, we’ve found that the new formats are not only visually appealing to users, but they also perform even better for publishers and advertisers," wrote Leslie Chiang on the Inside AdSense blog.
Sources:
http://www.ysmblog.com/blog/2007/04/05/think-short/
http://adwords.blogspot.com/2007/04/two-changes-to-how-top-ads-are.html
http://adsense.blogspot.com/2007/04/fresh-new-look-for-adsense-ads.html
