Yahoo! adds video and pictures to search ads
- Added:
- Feb 20, 2009
Yahoo! is to include videos and pictures to its search ads for the first time, in a bid to boost ad revenue.
Yahoo! said that a small group of advertisers tested its Rich Ads in Search feature late last year and saw jumps of as much as 25 percent in rates at which potential customers clicked on ads.
The company has now expanded the ‘Rich Ads’ format to an invitation-only service and said it plans to eventually open it to all advertisers.
Rich Ads can feature custom search boxes along with video or pictures so potential customers can scour the Internet for store locations or other information without steering away from advertisements.
Early adopters of the service include pet food merchant Pedigree, insurance firm Esurance, and ad agency Razorfish.
Yahoo blog editor, Jeff Sweat said: "Ever since we launched pay-per-click advertising, the ads have looked more or less the same: A headline, a line of ad copy, a link. They haven't changed because, frankly, the combination works pretty well. But what if search ads could show more?"
Commenting on the move, Nigel Muir, managing director, DBD Media, said: “This upgrade will provide searchers on Yahoo with a richer experience, similar to Ask, which will add value to what has become a second tier search service.
“If Yahoo's move is successful, brands with the strongest picture and video assets, and those who can leverage their cross media marketing activity, will create higher levels of engagement with their audience than those who continue to rely on pure text ads.
“As a specialist search agency we will be working with our clients to ensure that their search campaigns take full advantage of this move, with the aim of engaging with clients throughout the purchase cycle. It will be great opportunity to re-introduce some advertisers to Yahoo so that they can re-test the channel,” Muir added.
Yahoo!'s share of the US online search market has been creeping up in recent months, reaching 21 percent in January, according to figures released this week by industry-tracker comScore.
Google remained the leader with 63 percent of the search market, while Microsoft trailed in a distant third place with 8.5 percent, comScore reported.
