Ad Copy and Rotation
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Ad Copy and Rotation -- Advantage: Yahoo
The advantage for ad copy goes to Yahoo simply because it allows 40 characters in ad titles, while Microsoft's adCenter (and the big-G, for that matter) allows only 25-character ad titles. While many advertisers choose to write one ad that fits all three networks, Yahoo allows clever copywriters to gain advantage with longer, and presumably better, titles.
Yahoo offers more flexibility in managing multiple ads. You can easily turn ads on/off and set them to display on even rotation for A/B testing. Both Yahoo and Microsoft offer an ad optimization feature whereby your best ads, i.e., ads with the highest clickthrough rates, are displayed more frequently.
Microsoft has an interesting implementation of dynamic keyword insertion (DKI) that is worth exploring. DKI can make ads more relevant by inserting the user's search term into the ad on the fly. Microsoft takes DKI to a new level by allowing insertion of text into the ad title, ad text, display and destination URLs, plus two additional parameters for even more customization.
Content Targeting -- Advantage: Yahoo (Going, going....)
In a quest for more clicks to sell to its advertisers, Microsoft recently began a U.S. pilot of its own content advertising network. The pilot uses the same targeting controls for dayparting and demographics as those described below. Text ads are initially appearing only on Microsoft-owned properties with other formats and web properties to be added over time. While Yahoo currently holds the advantage in this area, look for Microsoft to start closing the gap in 2007.
Ad Formats -- Up For Grabs
Today, all the action is in text-based ads. Yahoo plans (discussed in Search Smackdown: Google vs. Yahoo!) "all kinds of ad formats," including mobile and TV. Microsoft is new to paid search, but not to online advertising. It would not be a stretch to assume it will bring its broad experience with display, video and video-hyperlink ad formats into play for adCenter advertisers.
Editorial Process -- Google
Okay, okay, we know this is supposed to be comparing Yahoo vs. Microsoft. The problem is that while Yahoo and Microsoft continue to enforce stricter editorial policies in the quest for perfectly relevant results, Google is making billions at their expense. Yahoo has quickened its editorial review process considerably with the Panama release. Microsoft reviews keywords before they go live.
Agency Master Accounts -- Even Score
Yahoo and Microsoft both offer a master console to qualified agencies, allowing them to log in once and work on any of their client accounts. Both companies offer excellent telephone support and special consulting services for their agency clients.
Matching Options -- Advantage: Microsoft
Microsoft offers standard match type options, following Google's lead by offering broad, phrase and exact match types. However, it does not currently expand broad matches to include similar terms. Microsoft treats plurals as separate words. It is puzzling why Yahoo does not.
Negative keyword match implementations are as different as night and day between Panama and adCenter.
Yahoo lets you set 50 universally excluded words at the account level, and another 50 at the ad group level. This approach is straightforward and easy to manage.
Microsoft's negative match offers greater flexibility because you can set negatives at the keyword level, but why did it set a one-byte limit on the negative word list? How many words can you fit into 1,022 characters, including spaces? IT guys will love this anachronism. It's a head scratcher for the rest of us.