Small Business FAQs
Q: What does Yahoo!’s search alliance with Microsoft cover?
Q: What does Microsoft provide Yahoo! with this search alliance?
Q: What does Yahoo! provide with this search alliance?
Q: What do I need to do right now?
Q: How will my account be transitioned to adCenter?
Q: Is there anything I should do to prepare for the transition?
Q: Will it cost me anything to transition my account?
Q: When will the transition take place?
Q: Will training be available to learn more about adCenter products, tools and capabilities?
Q: Will my ad position (also known as ad rank) be the same on Yahoo! and Bing search engine results pages? How does adCenter determine ad position?
Q: What happens to a Yahoo! advertiser’s account history after the transition?
Q: I’m concerned that the Search Alliance transition process will take longer than expected and happen in the midst of the holiday retail season?
Q: Will my site ranking change when Bing supplies organic search results for Yahoo!?
Q: Will Yahoo! Search include Bing functionality, like Shopping and Visual Search?
Q: In regard to my sites listing within organic results, will it be identical on Yahoo! Search and Bing?
Q: Is there anything we need to do prior to the organic search transition?
Q: Will you be helping us with our organic search optimization efforts pre-transition?
Q: Will Which account team will I work with on mobile search ads?
Q: How will Mobile search advertisers be transitioned?
Q: Is there anything I need to do to prepare for the transition of my Mobile campaign?
Q: Will the Yahoo! and Microsoft mobile search advertising transition happen at the same time as the online search advertising transition?
Q: How do I know if my account is affected by the new editorial guidelines?
Q: After the transition to adCenter, I would like to avoid the most common reasons for editorial disapprovals in adCenter; what are they?
Q: What search ad distribution controls will be available after the transition in adCenter?
Q: What does the launch of organic search on Yahoo! mean?
Q: How does the organic search transition affect webmasters?
Q: What markets will have Bing-powered Yahoo! Search results in 2010?


Q: What does Yahoo!’s search alliance with Microsoft cover?
A: The search alliance covers algorithmic search (web, image and video), search advertising and contextual advertising. It does not include any aspects of display advertising, vertical searches or site searches, such as queries on Flickr or Yahoo! News.


Q: What does Microsoft provide Yahoo! with this search alliance?
A: Microsoft will be responsible for the algorithmic search serving platform used by both companies, including web, image and video results. Microsoft will also be responsible for the search advertising platform that will be used by both companies (adCenter), and will manage the search advertising marketplace, including the API platform for tool providers and SEMs. Microsoft will be responsible for marketing to and support of self-serve search advertisers who are not managed by an account team.


Q: What does Yahoo! provide with this search alliance?
A: Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide sales force for all high volume search advertisers, SEM and SEO agencies, and resellers and their clients. Yahoo! will provide Microsoft with an exclusive 10-year license to certain Yahoo! search technologies. Yahoo! will also deliver a differentiated search experience for its users by innovating around the listings it receives from Microsoft by integrating Yahoo! content, shortcuts and tools.


Q: What do I need to do right now?
A: At this time, there is nothing you need to do to prepare for the transition, and we encourage you to keep your Yahoo! account open to continue to receive traffic. We will communicate with you prior to the transition to provide schedules, updates and tips that will help make it as seamless as possible.


Q: How will my account be transitioned to adCenter?
A: Approximately three months in advance, advertisers will receive multiple communications from Yahoo! and Microsoft that will provide details on what to expect during the transition process. When the transition date arrives, Yahoo! and Microsoft will work together to transition your account to the adCenter platform.


Q: Is there anything I should do to prepare for the transition?
A: At this time, there is nothing you need to do to prepare for the transition, and we encourage you to keep your Yahoo! account open to continue to receive traffic. We will communicate with you often prior to the transition to provide schedules, updates and tips that will help make it as seamless as possible.


Q: Will it cost me anything to transition my account?
A: No, there will be no advertiser fees involved in the transition to adCenter.


Q: When will the transition take place?
A: We will begin with the algorithmic search transition, with a goal of completing transition of at least the U.S. market by the end of 2010. We also hope to make significant progress transitioning U.S. advertisers and publishers in 2010 prior to the crucial holiday season, but may wait until 2011 if we determine that the transition will be more effective after the holiday season. It may take approximately 24 months to fully transition to Microsoft’s search platforms.


Q. Will training be available to learn more about adCenter products, tools and capabilities?
A: Prior to the transition, we will provide tutorials, educational emails and site content to inform and educate our advertisers regarding all the tools and features of adCenter.


Q: Will my ad position (also known as ad rank) be the same on Yahoo! and Bing search engine results pages? How does adCenter determine ad position?
A: Your ad rank on Yahoo! and Bing search engine results pages will be the same. Similar to Yahoo! Search Marketing, adCenter determines ad rank based on several factors including the amount you bid, your ad’s relevance, and your ad’s click-through rate.

As a result of each company continuing to own its own consumer search experience, there may be variances in the number of ads that are displayed in each location on the page. Bing could display three ads at the top of the page and two on the right-hand side, whereas Yahoo! might display two ads at the top of the page and three on the right-hand side for the same search term.


Q: What happens to a Yahoo! advertiser’s account history after the transition?
A: Account history (reporting and scoring) will not be carried over from the Yahoo! Search Marketing platform during transition. If a particular customer is already managing keywords on the adCenter platform, and continues to use the adCenter account, that account will retain its reporting and performance history. Advertisers starting new accounts on adCenter will need to re-establish their keyword and account histories. Naturally, the marketplace will shift when the Yahoo! traffic is added, so advertisers need to monitor and optimize their accounts throughout the traffic transition to ensure that they’re achieving the best results.

In addition, Yahoo! advertisers will continue to have access to the last 13 months of their Yahoo! Search Marketing account reporting and history after the transition for an extended time period.


Q: I’m concerned that the Search Alliance transition process will take longer than expected and happen in the midst of the holiday retail season?
A: Our goal is to provide a quality transition experience for advertisers in the U.S. and Canada in 2010 while protecting the all-important holiday season. If we feel that it would improve the advertiser experience, we may defer the transition to 2011.


Q: Will my site ranking change when Bing supplies organic search results for Yahoo!?
A: It is possible that the current ranking of your site on Yahoo! Search will change when Yahoo’s organic search results are powered by Bing. Once the transition occurs, your ranking will be based on how the Bing engine indexes and ranks the relevance of your site for a particular search query, as Yahoo! cannot change the order of the listings it receives. The current Bing search results are a good indicator of how your site may rank on Yahoo! post-transition.


Q: Will Yahoo! Search include Bing functionality, like Shopping and Visual Search?
A: Bing is only providing Web, Image and Video results on Yahoo! Search. There are no plans to extend what Bing powers to include the Bing Shopping and Visual Search experiences on Yahoo! Search.


Q: In regard to my sites listing within organic results, will it be identical on Yahoo! Search and Bing?
A: For your site’s listing, the Bing engine will provide Yahoo! Search with your page title, description, URL and any quick links. Yahoo! must use the page title and URL, but can truncate the description and either use, suppress or replace the quick links that are provided. If you have used Yahoo! Search Monkey to use structured data that makes your Yahoo! Search result more useful, visually appealing and effective, those enhancements will continue to automatically appear even after Bing is providing the results.

You might also experience other differences as Yahoo! Search and Bing each enhance their results with other helpful information and may choose to display it differently. Example: Bing provides the five nearest stores to the searcher, whereas Yahoo! Search displays just the closest store and its hours of operation. In this way, your site listing will always have some information that is consistent across both Yahoo! Search and Bing, but it is also likely to have some content that differs, as well.


Q: Is there anything we need to do prior to the organic search transition?
A: Unlike the paid search transition, there is nothing you need to do in advance of the organic search transition. The organic search transition will happen automatically when Yahoo! and Microsoft have completed systems integration and testing.


Q: Will you be helping us with our organic search optimization efforts pre-transition?
A: Bing’s website provides a robust set of materials on search engine optimization (SEO). An SEO webmaster’s toolbox can be found at http://www.bing.com/toolbox/webmasters. It provides webmasters with valuable information on organizing web site content and using non-paying methods, to help improve your site’s ranking in search engine results.


Q: Which account team will I work with on mobile search ads?
A: Your mobile search ads will be managed by the same account team as your PC accounts.


Q: How will Mobile search advertisers be transitioned?
A: We are still finalizing our transition plans for Mobile search advertisers, but anticipate that Mobile search advertisers will be transitioned at the same time as online search advertisers. Additional details will be shared in the coming weeks.


Q: Is there anything I need to do to prepare for the transition of my Mobile campaign?
A: We recommend that you simply continue to manage your Mobile search account as you have been. We will let you know when there is anything you need to do to prepare for the transition.


Q: Will the Yahoo! and Microsoft mobile search advertising transition happen at the same time as the online search advertising transition?
A: The mobile search advertising transition is expected to happen at the same time as the online search advertising transition.


Q: How do I know if my account is affected by the new editorial guidelines?
A: Starting in early August, all Yahoo! and Microsoft advertisers will be subject to the new editorial guidelines created jointly by Yahoo! and Microsoft. You should review the updated editorial guidelines to see if your ads and keywords may be affected. When you transition to adCenter, you may notice new disapprovals in your account. You can use the Ads and Keywords Disapprovals Tool in adCenter to help manage your disapprovals and get your ads live.


Q: After the transition to adCenter, I would like to avoid the most common reasons for editorial disapprovals in adCenter; what are they?
A: There are several common reasons for editorial disapprovals in adCenter such as lack of relevance or the advertising or promotion of certain types of offers. Please review our article on managing editorial disapprovals to view some of the reasons your ads or keywords may be disapproved.


Q: What search ad distribution controls will be available after the transition in adCenter?
A: We are currently developing new adCenter features that will help you control search ads distribution in the new unified search marketplace across Yahoo! and Microsoft sites. The intent of the new features coming soon to adCenter is to allow you to display search ads on the bundle of Yahoo! and Microsoft properties exclusively, on partner sites exclusively, or on the entire combined network (which is the default setting). In addition, you’ll be able to indicate domains and sub domains that you’d like to exclude at both the ad group and campaign levels. These search ad distribution controls are currently in development for a future adCenter upgrade.


Q: What does the launch of organic search on Yahoo! mean?
A: All organic search listings on Yahoo! Search will be powered by Bing when the organic search transition is complete. Microsoft will provide results for all web, image and video searches, while Yahoo! will continue to oversee the user experience for Yahoo! Search.


Q: How does the organic search transition affect webmasters?
A: Microsoft recently released updated Bing Webmaster Tools which provide a simplified, more intuitive experience focused on three key areas: crawl, index and traffic. We encourage all webmasters to visit the Bing Webmaster Toolbox for more information to help optimize sites for Bing. As the organic search transition will occur on a market-by-market basis, webmasters should also continue to provide their site information to Yahoo! using Yahoo! Site Explorer. We are working closely with the Bing Webmaster Center team on data integration and other features and functionality that will be of benefit to the webmaster community


Q: What markets will have Bing-powered Yahoo! Search results in 2010?
A: Initially, Bing will power Yahoo! Search results in English in the United States and Canada. French Canadian and Spanish U.S. results are expected to be powered by Bing in the September/October timeframe.