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For a brief period (4 hours), our client received over 16,000 clicks from a URL that looked like this:
[3]http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=search+terms&[b]fr=fp-buzzmod[/b]&cs=bz[/3]The search term was indeed one of our paid terms, but on any normal day, we get 200-300 off this term, and never more than 1,000 visits from Yahoo.
Has anyone seen the URL variable "fr=fp-buzzmod" and know what it is. Typically, the "fr=" will define the Yahoo channel from which the search was launched. But we can't find this one.
Thanks.
If you look at yahoo's front page you'll see the Yahoo Buzz log, its very much like google's zeitgeist but updated a couple of times a day. It uses "fr=fp-buzzmod" in its query string.
Quite comical that Overture can't work it out.
The two "fr=" that we get from their buzz index are either buzz-more or buz if you search from the page. Viewing source, "buzzmod" is nowhere on the page.
And the actual search term is very unlikely to be in Yahoo Buzz.... actually, very close to impossible.
UPDATE: I looked into the buzz history for the day in question and didn't find any links or topics that relates to our client.
including "fr=fp-buzzmod"
Could it be that the fp stands for front page? Also if you look most days update 3 to 4 times?
Just to clarify the Yahoo Buzz is now linked from the front page of YAHOO.
Edit.
It looks like fp doesn't stand for front page. But "fr=fp-buzzmod" is definately included in the query string if you click the front page links.
The od things is, we went back as far as 3/20 and haven't found any Buzz articles that would relate to our client's topic... which is niche, and not buzz-worthy in any way.
IMHO this is not valid PPC traffic as no search was involved.
Over should refund any huge spikes that do not originate from a search. This would be just like an AdSense publisher putting "click my ads" on his page. Obvious fraud.
I only hope that our adsense rep. also understands / has insight about what's going on, because everything is way off the scale..
Here's the lame excuse I got from Yahoo, (FTR, we're leaving Yahoo/Overture), this is <snip - foul language>.
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<SNIP>
Not only do I find this distressing, but it appears beneath the surface to be a move on Yahoo's part to inflate CPC's on sponsored terms. While we indeed received close to 900 clicks in half a day compared to 4-5 a day under normal circumstances, it failed to generate a single sale.
I spent close to $14K with you folks in the fourth quarter and I suppose I will have to take my money and run.
I have 80% of my terms shut off now. When my account gets to zero, I'm turning them all off.
I'm also copying in Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Watch, it will be interesting to hear his spin on this.
Dan
[edited by: werty at 6:22 pm (utc) on May 6, 2005]
[edit reason] TOS #9 Please do not paste emails [/edit]
Here's a snippet of what Yahoo said:
That they have reviewed the activity on our account for April 20, 2005 on the term "healthy snacks", as we requested. As a result of their research, no suspicious activity had been detected. "I have compared your traffic to that of other advertisers and have found it to be proportionate to what other advertisers received during this time frame. Please note, that your term?healthy snacks? received 893 clicks out of 45,199 impressions".
As part of their distribution agreements with Yahoo! Search Marketing their partners are permitted to highlight specific key word marketplaces. For example, MSN recently added a?Popular Searches? section to its MSN.com home page and through our research we have determined that this is the source of much of your additional traffic. The Popular Searches section on MSN features ten terms that users can click on to receive search results, including Yahoo! Search Marketing results. These terms are randomly rotated among popular search terms, so it results in significant increases in searches on keywords that appear there.
And they said to expect it to continue to happen.
Dan
These terms are randomly rotated among popular search terms
These are the terms to avoid.
That said, why are results like this considered "search results"
They are only "search results" if someone searches not just click on a front page link. Someone needs to take these people to court. It's fraud to the advertiser and does not fit any description of "search". Just the difference in impressions moves this out of search and into a grey area of fraud.
I wonder if maybe through the terms of service if they can somehow ban us from using their service in the event of civil litigation.
FTR, their service does draw traffic that has revenue value. We track conversion rates (not using their crappy tools, we use our own) and our conversion rate cost with Yahoo is 29% of revenue. That's not bad and much better than Google, which hovers around 127%. We currently spend about 5-1 on Yahoo over Google.
That means you spend more than you earn, correct?
FTR, we have completely shutoff Yahoo/Overture and have no intention on going back anytime soon. Their last response was "read your terms and conditions agreement".
On another note, FindWhat performs better than Yahoo, Google, Kanoodle, Nextag, Mamma, etc. Their problem is the lack of traffic.
