Checking how smart the Yahoo SmartAds are |
Yahoo SmartAds teases with a bold promise from a company that rolled out YPN with ads that were inherently not that smart (Disclaimer: I own Yahoo stock). I watched the SmartAds demo of Joe, the hip “LA guy” who likes poker sites and Vegas. He typed “Vegas Deals” into Yahoo Travel Search and then it showed ads offering flight deals for him.
I tried the same thing as Joe and didn’t block any cookies and what showed for me? Brake for deals at the Fairfield Marriot (see below). Was I doing something wrong? I tried refining my searches with queries like: “seattle to vegas” and “sea to las vegas.” Result?
Maybe you have to be logged in to see the targeted results? I logged into my Yahoo account and added the following new keyword searches:
- vegas specials
- las vegas tourist deals
- vegas travel
What advertisements were showed to me now on page refresh? Advertisements for Greece, Greece! What does Greece have to do with any of the keyword searches above? I refreshed the page 10 times to see different ads. These were the ads that showed:
1. Holiday Inn Express (with the ironic caption: “stay smart everytime”)
2. Staybridge Suites
3. Hotel Indigo
4. Holiday Inn Express (x2)
5. Candlewood Suites (free movies and DVDs)
6. Greece (x2)
7. Fairfield Inn Marriot
8. Holiday Inn Express (x3)
9. Holiday Inn Express (x4)
10. Hotel Indigo
Not one of these hotel ads featured locations in Las Vegas or even Nevada. Not Reno, not even freaking Laughlin. Is this not activated yet? Maybe I should call Brad King at 415-262-7052. Brad, what am I doing wrong? How do we make the Yahoo SmartAds … smart?
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Smartads is a good step forward, but its why Yahoo didn’t land the Golden Goose Ad Serving company Double Click - they don’t think as big as they should ! Customizing text and images within the confines of a pre-rendered template sounds impressive, but it significantly limits the potential of true customization. How about customizing as many creative elements of an ad that you think will deliver a more engaging message. Brand advertisers are calling out for this kind of direct response application to branded display advertising. The folks at Qmecom have perfected this application and make it easy for agencies to create literally millions of unique versions of ads. Smartads might be today’s solution, but tomorrows solution will be Smarter Ads - and tomorrow is now!
Comment by Danny — July 4, 2007 @ 3:57 pm PST
Someone actually has to have purchased the ads and put them to work in this framework. Just trying to recreate the demo experience on your own does not necessarily mean that some airline has signed up for that exact program. Remember, this product was built for advertisers, not you and your travel plans.
Comment by Dave — July 17, 2007 @ 6:18 am PST
Dave wrote: “Remember, this product was built for advertisers, not you and your travel plans.”
LOL, then they won’t get any of my spending as an advertiser or a customer.
Who are these supposed “smart”ads ultimately targeting, Dave? Advertisers don’t buy ads just to stroke Yahoo and their brilliant technology, they are looking for people like you and I to actually buy from the advertisements.
As for advertisers buying and putting the ads in the framework, Yahoo is the one showing the demo of Joe the poker player. I understand it’s a new program, but they could have chosen a different demo. Maybe they should have chosen an ad example that actually mirrors ads they’ve already sold.
It’s important to realize that I want to like what Yahoo is doing because I own their stock. But my experience with this doesn’t make me excited about their new ad platform yet. I’ll try it again in a few months when they’ve had time to sell more ad inventory. If they don’t have airlines with flights to Vegas (the #1 travel spot in the US, BTW) then they should definitely change out that demo with flights to places they DO have filled.
Comment by TDavid — July 17, 2007 @ 7:17 am PST