Is Yahoo`s Smart Ads a Smart Idea? - Yahoo in a Bind
(Page 3 of 4 )
One point that lends urgency to this role out of Yahoo Smart Ads is that Yahoo is in a real bind – the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation that I mentioned in the introduction. Yahoo has been fighting the Google juggernaut, angry stockholders, and advertising technology that has been more hindrance than help at times, all while undergoing a restructuring that saw it sacrifice its CEO of six years in the hopes of finding its way again. Show me any company that can do all that and not bite its nails every time it releases a product that could have a positive effect -- or not -- on its revenues.
Make no mistake, Yahoo needs its Smart Ads to be successful, and fairly quickly. Don’t believe me? Look at Panama. Mark Simon does a good job of explaining the undeserved hatchet job that the venerable search engine was getting over its new advertising platform, widely agreed to be an improvement over the old system. “Though a platform of that complexity takes the better part of a year to ramp up to full steam, plenty of industry analysts were ready to voice disappointment within a few months, and Yahoo’s reputation was hurt by the criticism,” he noted.
So does that mean that Yahoo should be aggressive in its pursuit of the bottom line? Well, any change it makes or new product it brings out will probably have a few difficulties if it moves too hastily. Now Google may trot out new products in beta all the time, but Yahoo doesn’t quite have that kind of maneuvering room. Remember those angry stockholders? Wall Street is putting everything Yahoo does under a magnifying glass. In such a climate, even a minor slip from the search engine will look far bigger than it actually is.
If Yahoo has to bring out a new product, Smart Ads is a good move. The company has been accused of not streamlining its product and service offerings for consumers. As Simon notes, “Smart Ads ties together content and search, and shows the world just how Yahoo plans to come out swinging from its slump.” But will it be enough to help the search engine start turning things around?
Next: Will it Work? >>
More Search Engine News Articles
More By Terri Wells
