Last summer, we wrote about Yahoo’s ad profiling program. This is a quick reminder that you need to be vigilant when monitoring for changes that Yahoo makes to your PPC campaign without your knowledge or consent.
What is Ad Profiling? Yahoo will go into your account to pause “poorly-performing” keywords (keywords with a low click-through rate) and pause “poorly-performing” ad texts.
Also, lets review the core intention of Ad Profiling, as stated by Yahoo: Our primary goal is to preserve the keyword by improving its performance. Just as in a garden you might try using more or less water or adding fertilizer, in Ad Profiling, we have several methods we can employ to help keep your keywords growing strong.
Recently, I noticed an imported file into one of my Yahoo accounts (that I did not upload). And it was an Ad Profiling change. This is how Ad Profiling changes are made, via excel uploads. What should you look for in your account? On the account dashboard, you should review the notifications of any changes to the account. Here is what to look for:
The changes in my account consisted of pausing certain keywords. For some reason, Yahoo had determined that these keywords were under performing (they were not) and that they were not relevant to my overall campaign (they are). The changes have been reversed.
I have again requested to place all of our accounts on Yahoo’s “do not optimize” list. I have done this previously, after I found the first round of Ad Profiling changes last summer. But I had to ask again.
When managing your Yahoo PPC account, be sure to keep an eye open for these changes. Has anyone else notice any Ad Profiling changes to their Yahoo accounts? If so, what did they change?
