Is domain blocking helping???

[MSI]

Is anyone out there already using domain blocking and getting results? With the bad results I got a month or so ago with the blocking my rep could do for me then, I am very leary of using the new blocking feature until I hear some feedback from real users.

Are you seeing the lowering of leads and a rise in overall conversion rates that they say should occur?

Is it working for all domains?

[AussieWebmaster]

we are using it and it is okay... but you need to be looking at your log files etc. to see what is not converting

[hassleback]

YSM is a disaster since they started domain blocking. While there used to be a good share of bad affiliates, now the rate of new bad affiliates is out of control. As fast as I can put them in the filter, new ones come up.

YSM has really dropped the ball. They apparently think that since they are allowing domain blocking that they can now approve almost any affiliate.

[MSI]

I agree I blocked one domain to start (findogo.com), now I get clicks from findogobr.com, findogo.net, findogocr.com, fondogoso.com etc.etc.etc. Didn't see these domains until I blocked findogo.com. So if I block 250 and gain at least four per blocked I will then have 1000 more bad partners to deal with....what a joke.

That's why I saw clicks go up and conversions go down when I had them blocking them through my rep months ago!!!!!!

Wake up Yahoo..you lost my last client in your engine this week all because of these type of issues.

[MSI]

Oh, and what was Yahoo's answer when I asked them to figure out why they went up?

MARKET FLUCTUATION

They didn't even really investigate. IMHO they just said that to make me quit asking.

[YahooPete]

Hi MSI,

Thanks for your feedback.

I want to let you know that Yahoo! is committed to delivering valuable traffic to our advertisers through our partner distribution network. In fact, in addition to the new Blocked Domains feature, advertisers can receive discounts on traffic from our partners’ domains, based on our assessment of the quality of that traffic.

Just a reminder for blocking domains and sub domains, entering example.com would block everything using the example.com domain. This means your ads would not appear on pages under such domains as example.com , www.example.com , www1.example.com , taxes.example.com , or www.example.com/news . You should use the format in this example (without "www." or any sub-domain) if you want to block the entire web site.

Hope this helps,

-YahooPete

[Mel66]

Originally Posted by YahooPete

Just a reminder for blocking domains and sub domains, entering example.com would block everything using the example.com domain. This means your ads would not appear on pages under such domains as example.com , www.example.com , www1.example.com , taxes.example.com , or www.example.com/news . You should use the format in this example (without "www." or any sub-domain) if you want to block the entire web site.

But this doesn't address MSI's issue of low-quality sites using multiple TLDs, e.g. findogo.com, findogobr.com, findogoch.com, etc. How is Yahoo combating this?

Melissa

[MSI]

mel66,

You beat me to it!! That is my exact question...How does that help? It does not cover the situation I am seeing. I did block the entire site using the findogo.com version, not the www. version or any other version. Why does Yahoo let the same partners carry so many multiple domains???? Why won't Yahoo protect advertisers from this?

Oh and if partner traffic is so bad that you have to give discounts why do you keep that partner at all? You obviously have more than enough to take the place of any that are removed, so why don't you remove them faster instead of giving us VERY SMALL discounts in comparison to the amount of bad business we get from them. Plus you won't even show us what the discounts really are per click or what partners you are discounting (those would be the first I want to block). Who cares if I'm paying $5.55 per click instead of $5.75 per click from one partmer when all the business is bad from that partner?

YahooPete I have yet to see you give any answer to any problem other than the patheitc pat answers we can find in the help files of the user interface or the propaganda based Yahoo blogs. It would be nice to see you give an answer that actually adresses the problem stated, not an answer that skirts around it or just tries to cover the true problem.

MSI

[YahooPete]

Hi MSI and Mel66,

Thanks for the feedback. I understand your frustration but let me assure you that Yahoo! takes the quality of its distribution network very seriously. We have an ongoing review process as well as guidelines for participation in our network and do take action in response to advertiser complaints. We have dedicated teams in place to support efforts focused on publisher traffic quality.

If you have any questions regarding certain sites, feel free to private message me directly or reach out to a rep.

-YahooPete

[AussieWebmaster]

way to go Pete!!!

[MSI]

YahooPete,

If you think I haven't told EVERY rep I have had any contact with about this since I saw the problem happen months ago when one of your "Quaity traffic" department reps blocked a few sites for me, you are terribly wrong. A low estimate fo the number of them I have told is 6.

Their answer is that it is MARKET FLUCTUATION.
They refused to investigate more when I asked them to.

I thought you were here to be another way for us to get info from Yahoo. Guess I was wrong.

As far as the private messaging goes... you tried that on me once before. You said I would be personally contacted about another problem, but it NEVER happened. Why does everything have to be in the dark by the way? There are multiple ones of us having this same issue and it should be discussed in the open so everyone else is warned about the situation.

IMHO,
MSI

[rustybrick]

Someone deserves a quick call before this gets out of hand...

MSI, let me know how long it takes to get that call please.

[MSI]

No guys, I'll put a stop to it right now. This is really a mute point. I am no longer advertising in Yahoo as per my last client's request. I lost a multi-milloin dollar account over issues like this. When I can't control costs because Yahoo refuses to look into the issues that are costing my client money, when I can PROVE it with the reports Yahoo analytics generates, when I beg every rep I talk to for help (only to be told I've done everything right but raise bids!!), why would I bring any more business to them?

My point on this issue is.......Domain blocking DOES cause more problems in SOME industries. There ARE publisher out there with thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of URLs to throw at the system as soon as I block their main domain. The fact that it is being reported by more than one advertiser means the problem DOES exist whether Yahoo will admit it or not. I just believe that ALL advertisers deserve all the information possible to make intelligent decisions about using these little featurs that Yahoo keeps piling on.

I know it seems like all I do is complain on this board, but that is because I always used it as a LAST resort when weeks if not months of pressing reps for answers did not work. I really thought that's what these boards were for, getting help or sharing info. Was I wrong AGAIN?
MSI

[Discovery]

Domain level blocking is important. And we have seen some improvements in performance. However, the issues raised here have certainly dampened our excitement and the effect of the new site exclusion feature.

It is true - There are garbitragers and template content cloners out there. Kill one clone and another takes its place.

Reporting - there is no cost data included with the referral report at the domain name level.
xyzclone.com
10 clicks
3.56 Avg.CPC
30.56 Spend
0 Conversions

There is a bottleneck here that is killing the whole concept.
If new content partners are joining by the thousands each day with little to no evaluation from Y! and tools given to advertisers to weed them out are weak and limited then advertisers will simply be overrun by the cockroaches and bail out on content once again.


This is what leads to so much criticism and conspiracy theories -

Lets face it there are only so many quality content partners out there say 30% the other 70% are schemes and business models that are simply trying to extort as much money as they can out of a loosely guarded partner program. And lets also be boldly honest here, everyone profits greatly in this case, except for the advertisers. The ad network simply has to balance how much crud we are willing to pay for before our returns are so insignificant that we leave. When we start to leave, they offer half solutions like limited exclusion and lacking referral reports.

Yahoo, this is what we fear is going on, please provide less canned and corporate line answers and back them up with real solutions.

Discovery

[MSI]

Rusty,

I did just get a call from a gentleman at Yahoo. He very nicely listened to all the issues I outlined. I spent about an hour talking to him. I appreciated his time and hope that telling even one more person at Yahoo might get the ball rolling on some of these issues that I believe can affect every advertiser. But in the end I was given no more hope of getting real answers than I had before. Only time will tell now.

[rustybrick]

Originally Posted by MSI

Rusty,

I did just get a call from a gentleman at Yahoo. He very nicely listened to all the issues I outlined. I spent about an hour talking to him. I appreciated his time and hope that telling even one more person at Yahoo might get the ball rolling on some of these issues that I believe can affect every advertiser. But in the end I was given no more hope of getting real answers than I had before. Only time will tell now.

Well, it is a start...

I think Yahoo understands that this is a major issue and upsetting advertisers is something they do not want to do.

As you said, "time will tell now."

[lethal0r]

YahooPete you guys are fully aware how poor some of your search partners are and you have been for the last 2 years or more. I've just written a post on this at http://www.secondsighting.co.uk/2007...l-low-quality/.
I'd be grateful if you could read it and tell me what you think.

Yahoo! takes the quality of its distribution network very seriously

Look at the image on my post, type in the search partner URL and tell me the quality of the site. This search partner is no different to the rubbish from 2 years ago.

[lethal0r]

Yahoo have refunded me for the clicks I mention in my article. In the long term I hope that Yahoo improves search partner quality so this does not happen again, which would be a good complement to domain blocking.