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Why Is Yahoo! Publisher Network Still In Beta?

May 6th, 2007 • Related • Filed Under

Yahoo! Publisher Network Beta launched in August 2005. Yet, nearly two years later it is still in beta and still isn’t accepting non-US applicants.

I’m starting to wonder if Yahoo! Publisher Network will ever see the light of day, and if it does, if it will be able to take away significant market share from Google Adsense, who are probably now unmovable as the number one contextual ad service for publishers and bloggers.

My first introduction to the internet was Yahoo! and My Yahoo! used to be my homepage until I started using Gmail and Google Reader. Now, I only visit Yahoo! to do exchange rate calculations as I have a handy module on My Yahoo! page.

As the months go by, Yahoo just seem to be losing more and more ground to Google, with more and more bad stories about Yahoo emerging weekly. Last week it was Yahoo’s poor quarterly earnings (especially when compared to Google’s stellar performance). This week, it’s the rumoured acquisition with Microsoft which I think Silicon Valley Sleuth are correct in describing as a Shotgun Wedding, and also the rumoured shut-down of one of its historical strong services Yahoo! Photos.

If a Microsoft-Yahoo merger does materialise it won’t be because it’s a good strategic move. It will be because it’s a last ditch attempt to close the gap on Google.

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About the Author

Everton is based in London and has worked in the internet and mobile space for over ten years now, and before that worked in corporate strategy and consulting. He has a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and currently runs the Portal and online operations for one of the largest ISPs in the UK. He also writes for Windows 7 News.

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There Are 7 Responses So Far. »

#1

Comment by David Culpepper on 6 May 2007:

I am approved for YPN and have tried it on a few of my sites. I was highly disappointed. The targeting is absolutely pathetic… and that’s being nice. They just don’t show relevant ads and until they fix that, it is unusable.
#2

Comment by Narayanan Hariharan on 6 May 2007:

I tried subscribing to the Yahoo Publisher Network some 8 months back and did not get a reply from them. I again tried about 2 weeks back and again no reply. This is like bad customer service. The applicant has/needs to be informed whether he is approved/rejected etc. There is no point in keeping a person waiting like this. Like always, Yahoo! S@#$S.. And when they do join forces with MS, together they will S@#K
#3

Comment by green on 6 May 2007:

Me too, they dont accept global publishers. Maybe they should combine with MS to take power.
#4

Comment by Make A Guitar on 6 May 2007:

I was approved last year for the Yahoo Publisher Network and tried it for several months. One of the advantages I saw was that it allowed you to target a few specific markets. However, the overall ad inventory was incredibly limited and most of the time I received ads from the targeted markets I had chosen. As a result, CTR was horrendous and earnings very poor. I switched back to Adsense and have found it far more successful overall.
#5

Comment by Dan and Jennifer on 6 May 2007:

Hey Everton,

It’s still in beta because their ads aren’t matching the content on pages, in my opinion anyway. We’ve tried that instead of google serveral times over the past year, and each time I’m amazed at home many stock and banking ads show up for my dating / relationship advice column.

Have an awesome day!
Dan
#6

Comment by Psychic on 6 May 2007:

I applied and being in Australia was promptly emailed I was not eligible. My hosting and targeting is the US so I could not figure that out. We are lucky that there are many more businesses providing the same type of service Adsense uses so there are other alternatives.
TerryG Psychic
#7

Comment by Dan and Jennifer on 7 May 2007:

Don’t feel bad Terry, see my note above.

Dan