Yahoo Mimics Google In Scandinavia

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Yahoo Mimics Google In Scandinavia

By: David Utter
2006-04-06

A Scandinavian test of a new search advertising algorithm could be the improvement Yahoo CFO Sue Decker hinted at during the company's earnings conference call last quarter.

Yahoo (YHOO) and its new approach to displaying contextual search advertising has been spotted by analyst Jordan Rohan at RBC, Forbes reported. The new approach should help improve the all-important click-through rates for those ads.

Rohan's advisory note referred to the program as "Project Panama" and said Yahoo plans to roll it out to the United Kingdom in July. Rollouts in the US and Japan should follow that in late 2006 or early 2007.

Decker commented on Yahoo's plans going forward during the company's earnings call in January:

"Regarding click through rate, we do have a number of relevancy initiatives that we've said in the past we would begin testing in the first half and we would roll out thereafter. We are going to stage a very systematic and deliberate roll out as not to disrupt hundreds of thousands of advertisers that depend on us….We had a very careful and phased global roll out and we will perform the same way as we roll out the monetization efforts. We're very enthusiastic about it, but we don't want to rush it. We want to do it exactly right."

Doing it right looks like they mean, "emulate Google if possible." Project Panama ranks ads by auction price and relevance, rather than just price, according to Rohan. He's maintained his "outperform" rating and target price of $42 for Yahoo.

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Tag: Yahoo

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About the Author:
David Utter is a staff writer for InternetFinancialNews and WebProNews covering technology and business.


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