Ask.com receives 1-4% of US search traffic and is finding it impossible to increase that number. Chances are, Ask.com will never be able to increase that number to a reasonable rate. So what is Ask.com doing to possibly increase those numbers? Not a whole lot: they are firing 40 non-producing employees and “focusing on married women looking to manage their lives.” I could care less what Ask.com does to increase their traffic and revenue numbers - because I don’t use it for search purposes or advertising purposes. We recently tested out some offers that would be perfect for “married women looking to manage their lives” and they performed horribly. The content network is filled with click-bots and will rob you blind. In our opinion, if Ask.com wanted to make a serious move, they would return to their origins and re-brand Ask.com as AskJeeves.com again. Yeah, all their re-branding dollars they spent on Ask.com would go to waste, but people still think AskJeeves, not Ask. Case in point: Howard Schultz closed Starbucks for an hour and had the whole country talking about it. Accept defeat, re-brand-brand, and move forward.

All online marketers understand the power and importance of paid search. Here is a video I shot when at SES with Acquisio that goes over their paid search bid management software. I’ve gone through the tutorial and it is a very reliable and easy to use bid management and API uploading tool for Google search, Yahoo search, and MSN search.

One of Yahoo’s greatest competitive weaknesses, in comparison to Google, is their contextual advertising platform - though they are still ahead of Microsoft.  AdSense (Google’s contextual advertising system) is hand’s down the most powerful contextual advertising system on the Internet.  With Google’s recent acquisition of Double Click they can now utilize the AdSense contextual network to display CPM priced banners - enhancing their CPM advertising distribution to an unbelievable amount.  Google is the worlds largest display advertising company - bigger than Specific Media, 24/7 Real Media, Platform A (AOL), and any other competitors.  Google has been slowly rolling out their display advertising efforts through the AdSense contextual network.  On this website, as well as other online properties that we own, we have seen these ads and they pay very little.  So we have been forced to turn off image advertisements, and only show text display ads; as CPM payout is worthless.  Back to Yahoo contextual network, it sucks, oh I already mentioned that.  I’m sure many of you have seen these ads before:

They are a perfect example of Yahoo’s terrible contextual network.  There is no revenue optimization system in place - which is clearly evident otherwise Yahoo would be constantly rotating competing ads in order to determine the highest revenue per click advertisements.  I’m certain that the advertisers shown above have a contract with Yahoo for a static price per click, and in return they get premium placement - but this is to the detriment of Yahoo and Yahoo shareholders.  Wake up Yahoo, there is no shame in duplicating Google’s contextual network; what are you waiting for?

As predicted here on this blog - Yahoo is getting bought by Microsoft (booyah kasha!) Keep in mind that the man structuring this deal appears in the video above. In interviews I’ve read online with Steve Balmer I think it’s clear he doesn’t understand the online market and how to profit from it. Microsoft’s facebook purchase clearly demonstrates their lack of understanding. Google just announced yesterday that paying for ad inventory on social networks was hurting their bottom line - and users on Facebook are even more fickle about clicking ads than they are on MySpace.The Yahoo acquisition for Microsoft will ensure a solid future for both companies during the next 10 years. The synergies to both companies should certainly help create more shareholder value than if the companies stayed apart, did some type of merger, or commercial venture together. Yahoo is the only remaining competitor to Google and this purchase verifies that. So what can we expect from a MicrosoftYahoo! in the second half of 2008 when the deal closes:

• One of the largest display advertising companies in the world
• Launching of mobile software to compete with Google’s Android
• Microsoft Search (Windows Live or MSN) and Yahoo Search merging.
• Windows Vista updates featuring Yahoo search
• More consolidation in internet video (the next logical step is to compete with YouTube)
• Enhancements for publishers looking to make money from contextual advertising
• Google continues to eat away at MicrosoftYahoo! unless MicrosoftYahoo! begins to reshape iself and act more like Google.

Please leave your comments and let Banner Blindness readers know what you think a MicrosoftYahoo! will bring in the second half of 2008.