Yahoo! Search Marketing is changing the minimum bid amounts on Sponsored Search keywords. Yahoo says that the changes are intended to help advertisers better align their minimum bids with the value and quality of their keywords.
The change will not be an overall new minimum bid, instead Yahoo Search Marketing is making the minimum bids dependent on the keyword itself, so that the minimum bids can be lower or higher than $.10. Yahoo adds that the change will not affect Content Match minimum bids, which will remain at $.10.
Why change the minimum biding model at Yahoo Search Marketing and how is the new bid determined? Yahoo says that there are multiple factors considered when setting the minimum bid on a keyword in Sponsored Search, including:
- Value – the number of bidders and their bid amounts in a particular keyword market
- Quality – the relevance of keywords, or how frequently users click on the ads associated with them relative to competing ads
Here’s the quick breakdown of how/when ads are displayed with this new system – if an advertiser’s bid meets the minimum bid for their keyword then the ads are eligible to be displayed for that keyword. If a bid falls below the minimum then the keyword will not be displayed. Advertisers will, of course, be notified of such changes and will have some time to adjust their bid.
Changes are expected to roll out through the week, so keep an eye on your keyterm minimum bids in Yahoo Search Marketing and please feel free to share with our readers the terms which are changing.
