Yahoo and Greed, how they are synonymous

[B-Double-U]

I received the following today:

Dear Product Submit advertiser,

From November 3, 2008, until December 31, 2008, Yahoo! will be making a seasonal rate adjustment by increasing the cost per click (CPC) by 25% in all categories. This means that during this period your actual billed CPC will be 25% higher. This adjustment reflects the increased consumer buying activity during the holiday shopping season, which is typified by increased leads, better conversion to sale, and increased revenue for our merchant partners. The 25% adjustment to your billed CPC will be reflected on your Click Report and in your invoice.

Please Note: You will not need to make changes to your account before or after this period.

I normally bark and complain about the "seasonal increases" because, for the most part, it is a lame excuse to jack up bids due to increased search volume and activity during the holiday season. I have regretfully gone with some of the increases because in some sick capacity, I can see that more traffic causes the PPC market to realize a higher cost overall.

For companies like Shopping, Bizrate, Pricegrabber etc. I can at least understand them wanting in on this action because they are buying ads on Yahoo, MSN and Google, but that is as far as I can stretch my imagination.

I have a REAL problem with Yahoo themselves jacking up their bids, since they don't incur any additional fees, since they are the actual provider. Could you imagine if your landlord raised your rent at your office during this time "because you see increased revenues during this timeframe"! You would be outraged, I guarantee it. I really can't believe that they have the audacity to think that they are comparable to the other advertisers. This is the ultimate "Double Dipping"!!

Am I missing something here, or can someone enlighten me on why I shouldn't be totally miffed at this?

[Mel66]

This is total BS if you ask me. I'd be beyond miffed.

[juliawesome]

Hm, I haven't received that message on Yahoo Search Marketing.

[B-Double-U]

Hey Julia,

This message was only sent to "product Submit" advertisers. Product submit is the Yahoo attempt at an online shopping comparison venue.

This channel of theirs directly competes with Bizrate, Shopping, Pricegrabber and other shopping comparison engines. The only difference is that they don't have to pay to advertise because they own the real estate, which is the whole reason that I am so angry..

[juliawesome]

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, I was a little confused since you mentioned sites such as Shopping and Pricegrabber.

Thanks for the clarification! I got a little freaked out, there.

[bpfrank]

I just wish they would do the same with Paid inclusion so all the organic result cheaters would burn their money all the way down.

[shorebreak]

All the major comparison shopping engines have been temporarily jacking up their CPC's (typically by 20-25%) during the holiday season, as far back as 2004, so this should not come as a surprise.

Because each individual CSE is too small to invest in developing a bidable marketplace, they have to do category-based CPCs, and because most advertisers buying on CSE's don't have the manpower to manage the channel closely, they couldn't bid based on ROI even if they *were* bidable marketplaces. Hence, the imperfect but market-based phenomenon of 'holiday CPCs'.