Yahoo! Launches New Search Ad Service

Yahoo! has launched a new search advertising service called Panama, which is intended to challenge Google’s dominance of the online advertising arena.

Panama, designed to improve ad relevancy and bring stronger competition to the search industry, has taken 400 engineers two years to develop.

The new platform includes faster ad activation and ad testing to ensure the highest performing ads are displayed more frequently.

Panama is the first major overhaul of Yahoo!’s search advertising capability since 1998 and introduces a new geo-targeting capability allowing brands to target eight regions in the UK using registration information.

Richard Firminger, regional sales director, Northern Europe, Yahoo!, said: “Panama has been designed to help marketers work smarter and better. The future of search is providing tools and marketing consoles that speak marketers language.

“Panama moves beyond just aggressive advertisers bidding for the number one search terms over everyone else.”

Yahoo! had to put its plans for project Panama on hold last year after it announced a net profit drop of 78% to US $164 million from $755 million year on year (see Yahoo! Delays New Search Facility For Advertisers).

The launch of project Panama comes as Google seeks to branch out from key-word advertising, with Google’s senior VP for global sales and business development, Omid Kordestani, saying that the company planned to apply the same data-driven approach to other forms of advertising, such as TV, print, radio and emerging technologies like mobile phones (see Plans For Google’s Future Vision Revealed).

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