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Yahoo to Launch Blog Ad Network

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the escalating-the-battle dept.

Art Vanderlay writes "Yahoo is launching the much anticipated ad network for small Web publishers today, intended to strengthen its hand against rival Google, a source familiar with the plan told CNET. The service will undoubtedly turn up the heat in Yahoo and Google's ongoing rivalry to dominate Web advertising. Syndicated search revenue for Google was $630 million, of Google's $1.38 billion in revenue in the second quarter of 2005."

26 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    If the ads are more insightful than the blog posts. I'm going to say... yes.

  2. Sounds like it has a market by confusion · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This really sounds like it has a lot of market potential, but the articles really don't have any detail as to what the fees will be or really how it is going to work.

    It is encouraging to see some recognition of the "little guys" though.

    Jerry
    http://www.cyvin.org/

  3. Re:I'm curious... by lucabrasi999 · · Score: 2, Funny
    What are the rates for these services?

    One MMMMIIIILLLLLIIIIIIIOOOOOOONNNNNNNN Dollars!

  4. Microsoft won't be too far behind ... by xmas2003 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Any bets on when the Redmond gang will offer their Ad network?

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    Hulk SMASH Celiac Disease
    1. Re:Microsoft won't be too far behind ... by digidave · · Score: 2, Funny

      Whoa! Don't be so hasty. MS just read about this now, so they've got to get a dev team together later today, wait for Yahoo to launch so they can steal ideas, then develop their own. Before they launch they will need to market it as an innovative revolution in online ads until finally it launches and nobody cares about it.

      At least that's what they did with MSN search and MSN maps.

      --
      The global economy is a great thing until you feel it locally.
    2. Re:Microsoft won't be too far behind ... by ScentCone · · Score: 2, Interesting

      for Yahoo to launch so they can steal ideas, then develop their own

      So, when MS does it, it's stealing. But when Yahoo does it (following Google), it's innovation? Or, when Google did it after Overture and Go2 and everyone else that had been in the game for years... what, they were just de-Eviling it? And, Google maps... was not one bit of it, conceptually or otherwise, derivative in any way from earlier offerings from MapQuest, and Yahoo?

      I guarantee that Yahoo won't be advertising this new service as being "just like Google did it!" even though they're obviously going after similar niches, using something that will manifest itself in a similar way. Of course, this is slashdot, so everything's fine unless MS happens to also do it.

      --
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  5. Re:Guess I'll be signing up by daeley · · Score: 3, Funny

    "...and won't give any reasonable explanation as to why..." quoth Motherfucking Shit.

    Hmm. ;)

    --
    I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
  6. Formula for success by jesuscyborg · · Score: 4, Funny

    Microsoft and Yahoo's new formula for success on the web seems to be: Do whatever Google does!

    1. Re:Formula for success by lucabrasi999 · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Microsoft and Yahoo's new formula for success on the web seems to be: Do whatever Google does!

      Can you blame either company? In any line of business, it is a good idea to copy a successful competitor, especially when the cost of said "copying" is relatively low.

    2. Re:Formula for success by Momoru · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well that strategy worked for Google...they just did what Yahoo and Microsoft did....

    3. Re:Formula for success by enrico_suave · · Score: 3, Interesting

      " Microsoft and Yahoo's new formula for success on the web seems to be: Do whatever Google does!"

      As much fun as it is to piss on yahoo as the "old and busted" and google as the "new hotness"... Yahoo has made some interesting forward thinking purchases lately... like flickr and Konfabulator

      *shrug* YMMV, and I'm no yahoo apologist/fan boy... just saying not all that glitters is google.

      e

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    4. Re:Formula for success by SeekerDarksteel · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Just like they copied free web e-mail? And personalized RSS feed homepages? Or searching the internets? ..oh wait...

      Let's face it, in the digital world, stealing ideas goes both ways. All that really matters is who implements those ideas better.

      --
      The laws of probability forbid it!
  7. Google Owns Patent for This? by lieumorrison · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Wasn't Google awarded the patent for this technology recently? http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/30/14 41249&tid=217

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    1. Re:Google Owns Patent for This? by MushMouth · · Score: 2, Informative

      A) They filed a patent but it isn't yet awarded

      B) Yahoo owns the '361 patent which covers a key component of Adsense (bid for placement), and the settlement pretty much gives Yahoo free reign of Google's patent portfolio.

  8. Yahoo will never win... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    If Yahoo employees can't even park, how can they ever hope to defeat Google?

  9. Re:Guess I'll be signing up by b0r1s · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Probably for "test" clicking your own ads. It's happened before. That $0.07 really hurts Google's bottom line.

    --
    Mooniacs for iOS and Android
  10. Re:Blog Ads? by Refrozen · · Score: 3, Informative

    Actually, CNet has no clue what they are talking about, Yahoo! calls it their small publisher network (here)... it is for any website that wants to run it, just like AdSense.

  11. Well its a good thing... by B11 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Someone is figuring out how to cram more ads onto the web. Lord knows we don't have enough.

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    insert inflammatory anti-microsoft comment here
  12. Why not both? by DogDude · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why not use both services? If I had a blog or something similar (ie: non-ecommerce), I'd but up an iframe for each of them, let them do their magic trying to match ads, and simply se which one paid the most. Or if they're close, why not just leave 'em both up? From what I understand, there's very little that the site showing the ads has to do to get them set up, so there's really nothing to lose using both (other than screen real estate, obviously).

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    1. Re:Why not both? by Serveert · · Score: 3, Informative

      Can't do that with Yahoo's new program. Google doesn't allow you to place ads from another affiliate network which uses the context of your website to target ads to your site.

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    2. Re:Why not both? by TheAwfulTruth · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Somehow that doesn't really seem to sit well with the "do no evil" bit...

      But maybe that's just me. Then entire AdSense BS stinks of evil already.

      --
      Contrary to popular belief, coding is not all free blow-jobs and beer. Those things cost MONEY!
  13. Actual Program URL by LetterJ · · Score: 5, Informative

    Since a quick scan of the article didn't include the actual program address, here it is: http://publisher.yahoo.com

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    The Glass is Too Big: My Take on Things
  14. Now the real test i their content matching by Serveert · · Score: 3, Interesting

    this is what differentiates adsense from everything else. The tech they acquired from applied semantics works very well as you can see by the success of adsense. It parses websites, figures out their meaning then finds corresponding ads. Not such an easy process.

    Yahoo's beta of this showed that their way of doing this is lacking, hopefully they improved it.

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    2 years and no mod points. Join reddit. Because openness is good.
  15. Ad == Credibility? by Thunderstruck · · Score: 2, Funny

    I've been all around this great big web
    and I've seen all kinds of 'blogs
    But I can't wait to get back to the blogs
    that are good enough to support ads...

    (With appologies to the Beach Boys)

    My question is, does the presence of advertising on an otherwise ordinary web log make it look more credible to the average web surfer?

    --
    Trying to use sarcasm in text-based forums does not work.
  16. Already exists by SaturnSS · · Score: 2, Informative

    Blogs already have an option, it's called BlogAds, it works, it's very easy for advertisers to submit an ad and buy space.

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  17. Perfect timing. Google Adsense can screw you over. by l-ascorbic · · Score: 2, Interesting
    I have had Adsense running on my site for over a year now. Initially I didn't get many clicks at all. In fact I hadn't yet made the $100 minimum to get paid. However last week I redesigned my site and read through Google tips on ads optimisation. I changed the format, moved the ads around and generally tidied them up.

    Sure enough, my clickthroughs jumped considerably. So much so, in fact, that I earned another $100 in about a week. This morning I got an email from Google stating that they'd disabled my account due to "Invalid clicks". I had not violated any of the terms: I hadn't clicked my own ads, I hadn't used bots, I hadn't offered incentives to anyone else to click them. All I'd done is follow their own optimisation tips.

    I sent an email saying this and got another automated response, stating that their "proprietary algorithm" mean that they couldn't elaborate as to what these invalid clicks were, but they were nevertheless disabling my account and witholding all payment.

    I spoke to a few of the users of my site, who said that yes, many of them had been clicking ads more. Some said that they'd gone on to buy things through these clicks. None had used bots or anything: they'd just clicked on the ads as any user might, because they were more noticable now and many of the targetted ads were amusing or interesting.

    My reply to their second canned email has gone unanswered, and I'm left down the $200-$250 that was remaining in my account, and it seems I have been hosting Google's ads for over a year for free. It seems that I'm far from the only person to experience this arbitrary account cancellation: