I think the question to ask instead is if there will be a viable _AdWords_ competitor. Without a strong pool of ads, you won’t have a competitive alternative.
Looking at the system from my own perspective as an advertiser:
Google AdWords is absolutely amazing in its flexibility, customization, speed, return on investment, etc. The tools provided are wonderfully helpful and I happily shovel gobs of cash to The Google every month.
Microsoft AdCenter (Live.com) isn’t quite as flexible, but it’s getting there. The tools are decent and improving, with the only limiting factor being the modest number of visitors their search engine receives. The dribble of click traffic from Live.com / MSN is small, but it’s worth paying for.
Yahoo Search Marketing by contrast is an absolute joke. The ad system is slow, inflexible, unreliable and a complete waste of time and cash. Even the most basic filtering option –- displaying ads only on Yahoo’s Search page –- isn’t available, and so your ads will appear on every spammy domain squatting and adware site under the sun. If you’ve a high per-click cost, advertising cash spent at Yahoo is completely wasted and is best directed back to (you guessed it) Google.
Ask.com, etc: Similar. Within a day of signing up and advertising, you’ll see a remarkable number of clicks, all originating from sleazy domain squatters and link farms. As far as competing for ads goes, these guys aren’t even in the race.
My dream: I’d love to see Microsoft acquire Yahoo and replace Yahoo’s joke of an ad management system with Live.com’s halfway decent alternative. That one action alone would probably do more for Yahoo’s bottom line than any number of new niche content network improvements... but that’s another rant entirely.
Looking at the system from my own perspective as an advertiser:
Google AdWords is absolutely amazing in its flexibility, customization, speed, return on investment, etc. The tools provided are wonderfully helpful and I happily shovel gobs of cash to The Google every month.
Microsoft AdCenter (Live.com) isn’t quite as flexible, but it’s getting there. The tools are decent and improving, with the only limiting factor being the modest number of visitors their search engine receives. The dribble of click traffic from Live.com / MSN is small, but it’s worth paying for.
Yahoo Search Marketing by contrast is an absolute joke. The ad system is slow, inflexible, unreliable and a complete waste of time and cash. Even the most basic filtering option –- displaying ads only on Yahoo’s Search page –- isn’t available, and so your ads will appear on every spammy domain squatting and adware site under the sun. If you’ve a high per-click cost, advertising cash spent at Yahoo is completely wasted and is best directed back to (you guessed it) Google.
Ask.com, etc: Similar. Within a day of signing up and advertising, you’ll see a remarkable number of clicks, all originating from sleazy domain squatters and link farms. As far as competing for ads goes, these guys aren’t even in the race.
My dream: I’d love to see Microsoft acquire Yahoo and replace Yahoo’s joke of an ad management system with Live.com’s halfway decent alternative. That one action alone would probably do more for Yahoo’s bottom line than any number of new niche content network improvements... but that’s another rant entirely.