20th
July
2007
I’m not talking about them selling the company, (although there are rumors) I’m talking about their integrity and their overall credibility as a search engine, by appearing to sell the number one organic search result to the highest bidder.
Yesterday I attended the Internet strategy conference in Portland, and one of the speakers was Cammie Dunaway, the chief marketing officer for Yahoo.
During her presentation, she explained some new ways that Yahoo is working with advertisers, and she showed a TV commercial where the words “Special K” were typed into a Yahoo search box.
When the search result page appeared, there was Kellogs, at the top of the search results, with a Special K logo right there by the SERP.
Something about it looked odd to me, then it hit me… Directly above the advertisement, were the words “search Results” and the tinted box and the words “Sponsored Results” had been removed.
Apparently this campaign is still running, as I just tried a search and here’s the result -
Perhaps this is nothing new, and Yahoo has done it before, but I’ve personally never noticed it.
What bothers me about this, is that by removing the tinted box and leaving out the words “sponsored results“, Yahoo is effectively selling the number one search result.
Is that option available for all advertisers? Is that option available for all phrases? Are they selling the number two, three, fours and five search results as well?
Cool, where do I sign up before my competition does, and how much does it cost?
Yahoo does seem to be leaving the actual ranking numeral to the left of the organic result, does not make this any less confusing for the end user.
Yahoo, I think I would I would like my graphic for my “ad” to be a large red #1? Would that be all right?
Clearly, it appears that Yahoo has gone out of their way to seamlessly blend an advertisement with their search results. Has anyone seen other instances of this?
Do you think we’re seeing the beginning of the end of organic search on Yahoo?
Other stuff I've written that you might like:
Jerry West says:
This is quite interesting. My rep at Yahoo! isn’t in yet, and I noticed that there aren’t any paid listings on that search result. I just attempted to add it to one of my accounts through YSM and got a message back that the keyword phrase was not available for bidding.
Interesting.
I want to wait until I hear from a real person the intent here. Getting an autoresponder back leads to too much speculation!
Yahoo! Continues Down “The Path” | SEO Revolution says:
[...] Hendison had a great blog post that you should check out regarding a new “advertising” method that Yahoo! has [...]
Kent Schnepp says:
Scott -
Good catch! I have seen similar results from Yahoo! Shortcuts but nothing this commercial, and nothing with a logo. Usually it’s just links to promotions and Yahoo! related products.
Mike Moran is a Genius! Event Recap: Internet Strategy Forum Executive Summit | Amplify Your Search Marketing Knowledge says:
[...] http://www.pdxtc.com/wpblog/archives/405 [...]
Robert Frost says:
VERY interesting. I noticed this post referenced over on Search Engine Land today.
Yahoo! Shortcuts ahora con publicidad says:
[...] Is Yahoo! selling it out?, El Blog de Scott Hendison Yahoo Selling Out Its SERPS to Advertisers, [...]
randfish says:
Nice catch, Scott. Google does the same thing, a little quieter, for travel searches – try Seattle to Denver, for example. Those 4 folks listed have some paid relationships
Scott says:
Wow, you’re right Rand… I’ve never seen that before! This search shows Google doing the same thing, and not all that much quieter. I suppose the font is a little different… Is that enough to meet meet the Webmaster guidelines for disclosing paid links?
I definitely see this falling under the banner of “full disclosure”. Google and Yahoo are both appear to be selling links in their serps, as far as the end user can tell.
SEO/SEM News » Yahoo! Shortcut - Another push moving organic close to below the fold says:
[...] ad. I first saw it on Danny’s Search Engine Land posted by Barry who mentioned Scott Hendison found it while searching for Special [...]
Gary Pool says:
Scott, I enjoyed your post. I had noticed this sort of thing happening at Google since just before they went public. I just figured this was the way the giants did these things. I guess the bidding can be closed if you throw enough money at the auctioneer. I never thought it was fair just the way it is.
Ads on Yahoo! Shortcuts says:
[...] Is Yahoo! selling it out?, Scott Hendison Blog Yahoo Selling Out Its SERPS to Advertisers, [...]
Is Google Tricking Users Into Clicking Ads? | An Internet Consultant Speaks | Scott Hendison says:
[...] Fridays post, I pointed out that when Yahoo sells out, they are calling it a “partnership program”. However, when Google sells out, what do [...]
Anonymous says:
Is Yahoo Selling Out?…
Yahoo is showing advertisements without designating the listing as a paid link….
Arizona SEO Blog Archive » The "SEO Goods" target="_blank" for 7/23/2007 says:
[...] intersting look at whether Yahoo is selling space in thier [...]
Matt Cutts says:
The links in Google’s flight OneBox were chosen for merit. They’re not paid in any way and no money changed hands. So this is completely different than Yahoo’s paid-but-unlabeled Special K promotion.
(Added to your other post as well.)
Matt Cutts says:
P.S. Rand, you’re going to get an earful from me tomorrow..
Is Yahoo selling out? | Richardsons Design and Marketing says:
[...] Is Yahoo selling out? “By removing the tinted box and leaving out the words ’sponsored results’, Yahoo is effectively selling the number one search result. […] it appears that Yahoo has gone out of their way to seamlessly blend an advertisement with their search results.” [...]
Search News « The Jack Bauer of Search Engine Optimization says:
[...] is updating.  and then selling out at the same time? Something about it looked odd to me, then it hit me… Directly above the [...]
Kevin Taylor says:
I’ve not seen this in the UK yet, are Yahoo planning to role this out in all countries? Pretty poor show and not something I’m in favour of seeing.
Kevin Taylor
Gravytrain Limited
HELM, WHM/cPanel, Windows, Linux and SEO Blog » Blog Archive » Yahoo Shortcuts For Sale? says:
[...] Hendison found an interesting Yahoo Shortcut that appears to have been sold. A search on special k at Yahoo Search [...]
Gary Pool S.E.O. » Blog Archive » Can you buy a #1 organic listing in Google? says:
[...] response to Scott Hendison’s blog post “Is Yahoo Selling Out“. Scott talks about how Yahoo removes the tinted box and leaving out the words [...]
Gary Pool S.E.O. » Blog Archive » Google -Yahoo - MSN - the search engine dance? says:
[...] posting some more research information I have discovered. This all started with a post by Scott “Is Yahoo Selling Out“. I found something I thought was very interesting. What bothered me was: Did Vintage Tub buy [...]
Aditya says:
Yahoo is a big organisation
Lets see i dont think they gonna sell themself to anyone
still yahoo is no.1 site in the world
Google : Google Search : The Drifters : Music Downloads : Search Engine Optimizician says:
[...] the first position in their search results without making it obvious. Scott’s post was is Yahoo Selling Out? and mine Can you buy a #1 organic listing in [...]