Yahoo Directory Gives Sponsored Ads Greater Advantage with Images

Yahoo! are testing the use of images next to sponsored listings in Yahoo! Directory search results. As reported by Loren Baker of Search Engine Journal, the images are being provided by a company called ImageAdvantage which are generated from a photo database or the advertiser's website.

The ads definitely attract more attention to the listings and should have a positive impact on their overall CTR (click-through-rate). For Yahoo! this means existing advertisers are likely to spend more (as they are receiving more clicks) and new advertisers are given an incentive to join the program.

A screenshot of the Business and Economy section of the directory is below:



Loren also notes that while the images are a recent additions to sponsored search listings, they may even be violating Yahoo!'s own Yahoo Publisher Network (YPN) policy. One of the YPN policy's states:

• Images or other media cannot be associated with the Ad Unit.

While the listings in Yahoo!'s own directory and third party websites are quite different, it's an interesting point to note.

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Posted by Matthew Elshaw at 7:32 AM GMT