We’ve all heard that Yahoo recently did a deal with Google where Yahoo will have the option of serving Google’s paid, image and natural search results on its owned properties and networks. Yahoo would also retain it’s ability to power it’s search through Microsoft and also it’s own search technology called ‘Gemini’.
The new agreement means Yahoo are able to serve Google search results up to 49% of the time on desktop and 100 of the time on mobile and tablet. Yahoo has maintained control over which search queries will be served via Google with no minimum number in place.
What does this agreement mean for Yahoo advertisers?
- Firstly, Yahoo will be bought through three different engines Bing, Yahoo and Microsoft on a query by query basis with no guarantee it will remain consistent. We have seen some queries being served almost exclusively through Bing since Gemini launched earlier this year. It is recommended that advertisers test all three platforms to get a sense of volume and performance.
- Google will see it’s search footprint continue to grow. This means it’s even more critical that brands advertise with Google to ensure ads appear two of the top three platforms. We think this could have an impact of advertisers as Google search advertisers could see an increase in CPCs.
- Budgets must be more fluid than ever to take advantage of opportunities as traffic ramps up and down between the three main platforms. Marketers will have to stay on top of pacing and budget caps due to search engine shifts. Marketers will have to be nimble throughout their campaigns reallocating budget as query volumes between engines shift.
For digital marketers change is the only constant in our industry. We recommend testing and learning with a flexible strategy as always.
