Yahoo SEM: "You are not alone"
Isn't that a song by R. Kelly, or someone like that? Michael Jackson? Who knows.
Well, the inevitable happened. Yahoo Search Marketing Customer Support came in and again deactivated all of the keywords from my campaign that they had reactivated on Monday.
The kicker is, however, that they also deactivated the 500 keywords that Yahoo Search Marketing created FOR ME, as part of deactivating my entire account. WTF? I didn't ask for my account to be deactivated. A week ago, when my campaigns were being canceled, I did ask what the process was for a refund. Now, they deactivated the account, and asked me if I would like a refund.
Unfortunately, one hand isn't talking to the other. The Inside Sales guy did a great job of getting me set up, only to essentially get the smackdown from Yahoo Customer Support who threw away all his work. It must be tough to be a sales guy when these kinds of things happen. I hope he still gets his commission. :)
I'm sure it'll work out, although I've left messages and haven't gotten any response to my request last night to please reactivate (they asked me if I wanted to reactivate my account).
I heard today from two different people though that I am not alone. (now the Michael Jackson referral makes sense).
Okay, third-hand rumor warning, but I heard today that a very big VC and original founder of a formerly very big online company had bought a basic keyword on Yahoo Search Marketing (in an approach similar to mine) with a very legit ad. It also was deactivated by Customer Support. The VC then contacted his buddy at Yahoo about it (who happens to be one of the top folks there) who promised him it would be remedied. Although the last word was that it still wasn't fixed.
So if a brilliant marketer with billions in his pocket can't get things done, I'm somewhat comforted by that. :)
Secondly, I spoke with a friend of mine who's deeply involved with the advertising side of things, and he also spoke of some of the major changes underway to try and straighten things out. Everything I've mentioned as part of my experience and others is not news. It's well known, and they're trying to fix it. Timeline for this? End of 2006 at earliest.
I'm optimistic that there are basic things that will be fixed before then. Surely, the folks there who already clearly know the issues, and are trying some short-term fixes ahead of the major changes. I hope.
Finally, a colleague corrected me that Google also has an initial set up program called JumpStart. I had said in a previous post that I really loved Yahoo's introductory program where they set up a keyword campaign for me (even if they did deactivate it). Btw, the Yahoo program converted pretty well, and at 1/3 the CPA than my campaigns on AdWords. Of course, there isn't as much traffic, but not bad, not bad.
I sent an email to Google JumpStart with a request for a sales person to contact me, given the size of my ad budget. It's been three days and I haven't heard back.
So score one for Yahoo on InsideSales. Score 1/2 for Yahoo for campaign efficiency. Subtract 3 for operational ineffectiveness.
Stay tuned.
Well, the inevitable happened. Yahoo Search Marketing Customer Support came in and again deactivated all of the keywords from my campaign that they had reactivated on Monday.
The kicker is, however, that they also deactivated the 500 keywords that Yahoo Search Marketing created FOR ME, as part of deactivating my entire account. WTF? I didn't ask for my account to be deactivated. A week ago, when my campaigns were being canceled, I did ask what the process was for a refund. Now, they deactivated the account, and asked me if I would like a refund.
Unfortunately, one hand isn't talking to the other. The Inside Sales guy did a great job of getting me set up, only to essentially get the smackdown from Yahoo Customer Support who threw away all his work. It must be tough to be a sales guy when these kinds of things happen. I hope he still gets his commission. :)
I'm sure it'll work out, although I've left messages and haven't gotten any response to my request last night to please reactivate (they asked me if I wanted to reactivate my account).
I heard today from two different people though that I am not alone. (now the Michael Jackson referral makes sense).
Okay, third-hand rumor warning, but I heard today that a very big VC and original founder of a formerly very big online company had bought a basic keyword on Yahoo Search Marketing (in an approach similar to mine) with a very legit ad. It also was deactivated by Customer Support. The VC then contacted his buddy at Yahoo about it (who happens to be one of the top folks there) who promised him it would be remedied. Although the last word was that it still wasn't fixed.
So if a brilliant marketer with billions in his pocket can't get things done, I'm somewhat comforted by that. :)
Secondly, I spoke with a friend of mine who's deeply involved with the advertising side of things, and he also spoke of some of the major changes underway to try and straighten things out. Everything I've mentioned as part of my experience and others is not news. It's well known, and they're trying to fix it. Timeline for this? End of 2006 at earliest.
I'm optimistic that there are basic things that will be fixed before then. Surely, the folks there who already clearly know the issues, and are trying some short-term fixes ahead of the major changes. I hope.
Finally, a colleague corrected me that Google also has an initial set up program called JumpStart. I had said in a previous post that I really loved Yahoo's introductory program where they set up a keyword campaign for me (even if they did deactivate it). Btw, the Yahoo program converted pretty well, and at 1/3 the CPA than my campaigns on AdWords. Of course, there isn't as much traffic, but not bad, not bad.
I sent an email to Google JumpStart with a request for a sales person to contact me, given the size of my ad budget. It's been three days and I haven't heard back.
So score one for Yahoo on InsideSales. Score 1/2 for Yahoo for campaign efficiency. Subtract 3 for operational ineffectiveness.
Stay tuned.
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