Paid ad prices predicted to rise for Yahoo! marketers

16th July 2008

The Google-Yahoo! ad deal currently being scrutinised by US regulatory authorities could lead to an increase in paid ad costs, it has been warned.

Those buying Yahoo! ads could find themselves paying an average of 22 per cent more than normal for keyword ads should the agreement be approved, SearchIgnite said.

Some marketers may end up paying more or less than this average depending on their choice of keywords from the long tail, brand and head term groups, the company remarked.

Roger Barnette, president of SearchIgnite, stated: "Most marketers will see their overall costs for search advertising across the Yahoo! network increase and will need to adjust their search strategies accordingly."

The agreement between Google and Yahoo! was announced last month and could last for up to ten years.

According to the terms of the deal, Google ads will be placed next to Yahoo! searches for certain keywords and could also be displayed on non-search Yahoo! sites.