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A Yahoo Inc. spokeswoman confirmed this week that the company's search-marketing division, formerly known as Overture Services, plans to start testing graphical banner ads displayed based on their relevancy to a Web page's content in the next few weeks.
And how will Google react to the challenge? How many new features will they dig out of their strongbox with secret plans? They will have been considering for a long time beforehand what Yahoo might be expected to do and what their own answers ought to be.
What will the advertisers say? And the publishers? Webmasterworld will be buzzing!
I find it curious, though, that webmasterworlders are reacting with surprising disinterest to this clear attempt at migration to banner ads.
Is it because they don't really see this going anywhere?
Google and Yahoo are making a big play for branding dollars and if this were to work out in a big way, it would be painful for independent, small business brands.
After all, we succeed on our ability to provide a service, not to grab mindshare, something which requires a significant investment even in the tiniest of niches because the minds of potential customers are already cluttered by the large brands.
But, at the same time, I think search engines succeed on their ability to provide very relevant content. If they're cluttering above the fold with results which are not directly relevant to their searches I can only imagine the user experience will suffer and people will migrate elsewhere.
After all, isn't that how Google won in the first place? Clean, simple superior search interface?
Or are we seeing a search cartel develop here between Google, MSN, Yahoo with a complicit agreement amongst them to create an equally painful user experience so that searchers will have no choice but to sit and be brainwashed by the big brands? And as a cartel they can make huge inroads into brand marketing?
What do people think? Shouldn't we have strong opinions on this? After all this is pretty relevant, because for all the serp grubbing people do, in the end it is what is above the fold that matters.
I find it curious, though, that webmasterworlders are reacting with surprising disinterest to this clear attempt at migration to banner ads.
It's because banners are rubbish. I've used them in several different forms for several different products with several different offers with several different publishers (including google awords). They simply are not as effect as keywords for pure click-through.
Maybe they help with branding and product awareness, but as a product reseller I couldn't give two-hoots about that.
:o)
