Yahoo Search Ads Testing Paypal Cart Icon
Andrew Goodman at Traffick has stumbled across some Yahoo Search Marketing ads for eBay.com which are serving a Paypal Shopping Cart icon in the ad copy. This new addition to the Yahoo Search advertisements are incredibly similar to the Google Checkout Cart graphic being used in AdWords Ads by merchants which accept payment via the Google Checkout service.
Being that Yahoo and eBay have partnered to integrate Paypal into the Yahoo experience as the preferred Yahoo currency and payment system, the obvious prediction is that Yahoo Search Marketing is going down the same route as Google – showcasing merchants & advertisers who accept Paypal payments.
Why would Yahoo do this? A share of the sales revenue could be one reason but if Yahoo is willing to bank its future payment system on a partnership with Paypal and introduce its hundreds of millions of Yahoo’rs to Paypal via heartfelt recommendation, then they’re going to have to show their users that using Paypal to purchase online is safe and somewhat special.
Doing so will build demand and Paypal patronage among Yahoo users, thus giving Yahoo Search Marketing and Paypal a leg to stand on when pitching the Paypal system as a shopping cart payment option to those merchants and Yahoo advertisers who are not currently offering Paypal.
Here is Andrew’s screen capture:
And the Google Checkout icon used in AdWords ads:
I think if Yahoo uses the little blue cart like Google that the end result will be confusion among both advertisers and buyers. Why not try a more branded icon, like the Paypal logo itself?
