The Long and Short of It
Within the old Yahoo! interface, users were allotted one ad text and it could contain up to 180 characters. Every keyword was assigned a title, a description, and a destination URL. In Yahoo’s new interface, Panama, ad groups, keyword groups are served with specified ad texts.
Within Panama each ad description is allotted one headline, two ad texts, a display URL, and a destination URL. Users have the option of using a short ad text and a long ad text. The short description can be up 70 characters in length and the long description can be up to 180 characters in length.
The short text appears within Yahoo! search results. The long text appears within Yahoo! partner sites, via Yahoo!’s content distribution network, that can accommodate longer ad text descriptions. The content distribution network includes sites such as CNN, ESPN, USA Today, AllTheWeb, eBay, National Geographic, iVilliage, and many others. We suggest utilizing both the long and short description options. However, this suggestion will soon become a requirement – not by us, but by Yahoo!.
Yahoo! announced yesterday that short ad texts will be required come May. So, for those of you who are only utilizing the long ad text option should go and begin evolving, or become extinct. Maybe it’s not that dramatic, but you know what I mean.
