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Phantom Yahoo Spending not an isolated incident

June 4th, 2008 Posted in Omniture, Yahoo Search Marketing

Although I had observed something similar happen to a few select Yahoo accounts I manage, Joe over at PPC Hero dropped me a line and confirmed that it is not an isolated incident.  Apparently, Yahoo is optimizing campaigns automatically, which could spell disaster for your analytics and conversion spending.  What’s surprising is that they have it written into their terms of service, I’m sure everyone’s read that, right?

Phantom Spend

For the last few months I have observed a spike in unexplained spending and decreased conversion numbers that I had initially and incorrectly attributed to seasonal changes on a few client accounts.  It wasn’t until campaigns were paused that the real culprit emerged, Yahoo had made unauthorized changes to accounts!

There are, of course, a number of problems with that:

  • If anyone uses any kind of software (cough) Omniture (cough) that requires synchronization of any kind, the unauthorized and miscommunicated addition, subtraction, and bid changes (addition of keywords is a bid change as far as I am concerned) for keywords and ads breaks tracking efforts.  Super!
  • How many advertisers are aware a stipulation in the terms of service allows Yahoo complete control over their ads, keywords, and campaign settings?  Are changes in traffic due to seasonal fluctuations, landing page changes, or search user behavior?  Now we’ll never know for sure.  Thanks guys!
  • How likely is it that Yahoo account managers (and I use that term very loosely) will work with advertisers to credit unwanted spend?  In a sinking boat like Yahoo?  Not bloody likely, but you might get a store credit for additional ads.  Sigh…

I doubt Yahoo can put a positive spin on this one.  They’ve been pretty desperate in recent months to show considerable net worth to their investors and potential suitors if a buyout ever does happen.  We’ll have to see whether official word comes down from their PR department and hope amendments are made to their terms of service, otherwise many advertisers will be switching to Adwords for keeps.

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