Monday, May 7th, 2007 by Andy Beal

13

Yahoo Keeps Keyword Inventory Tool on Life Support

If you’re a fan of the YSM Keyword Selector Tool (aka Overture Inventory Tool), I have good news and bad news for you. Yahoo Search Marketing is no longer supporting the tool, but the company is planning an update to the information.

Here’s part of the email I received from them…

Since the launch of the new Sponsored Search system, Yahoo! Search Marketing no longer supports the tool, therefore the data is not reflective of the true volume of traffic throughout the network.  With the new Sponsored Search system now in place, more tailored keyword data tools are being explored for the future.

For the time being, Yahoo! plans to adjust the tool to show information from January 2007, but it’s also recommend that advertisers use the more robust forecasting capabilities in the new Sponsored Search to gain insight into expected performance.  The forecasting service available now within Panama and through our APIs is a great alternative to Keyword Selector Tool in terms of providing keyword data points for performance and cost.

Our forecasting service APIs provide a number of opportunities.  They provide a forecast for an ad group, set of keywords, and a single keyword.  The following forecast metrics are provided:

            1) Average Position – The average position of the ad

            2) Clicks – The estimated number of clicks

            3) Average CPC – The average cost per click

            4) Impressions – The estimated number of impressions

            5) Max Bid – The maximum bid for the current forecast

            6) Missed Clicks – The estimated number of missed clicks


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13 comments on “Yahoo Keeps Keyword Inventory Tool on Life Support”

  1. Loren Baker Says:

    May 7th, 2007 at 2:38 pm

    This comment was made on behalf of Neil Patel;

    I wonder what the conversion ratio will be on users who are forced to sign-up with Yahoo! Search Marketing to use their advanced search term tracking and forecasting tool, then actually become paying advertisers with Yahoo!

    And if building a larger advertising base is their reasoning for changing the tool.

  2. Yahoo Search Marketing Puts The Brakes on Keyword Inventory Tool Says:

    May 7th, 2007 at 2:48 pm

    [...] Andy Beal says that Yahoo Search Marketing is still not planning on supporting the old Overture Inventory tool, since the older tool is not accurately reflective of the true volume of search terms and traffic throughout the Yahoo Network, and that Yahoo will be working on a new, more updated and tailored tool for Y!SM in the future. For the time being, Yahoo! plans to adjust the tool to show information from January 2007, but it’s also recommend that advertisers use the more robust forecasting capabilities in the new Sponsored Search to gain insight into expected performance. The forecasting service available now within Panama and through our APIs is a great alternative to Keyword Selector Tool in terms of providing keyword data points for performance and cost. [...]

  3. » SEO News StarterSearch Engine Optimization Blog - SEO News and Opinion Says:

    May 7th, 2007 at 6:19 pm

    [...] Andy Beal wrote a post at Marketing Pilgrim noting that Yahoo! is “… keeping the [Overture] Keyword Selection Tool on life support.” According to the post, Yahoo suggests using the keyword forecasting services available through Panama and YSM APIs. “For the time being, Yahoo! plans to adjust the tool to show information from January 2007, but it’s also recommend that advertisers use the more robust forecasting capabilities in the new Sponsored Search to gain insight into expected performance.” [...]

  4. Andy: Yahoo Keyword Tool “on Life Support” » Small Business SEM Says:

    May 8th, 2007 at 1:04 am

    [...] I assume most of you also read Andy Beal’s blog, but just in case I’ll point to his post tonight about the future of the Yahoo/Overture free keyword tool. “On life support” is the key phrase there. [...]

  5. Death of The Yahoo / Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool | Internet Home Business Says:

    May 8th, 2007 at 1:14 am

    [...] Andy Beal reported that Yahoo Search Marketing is no longer supporting it’s keyword tool, known to many Internet marketers still as the Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool. [...]

  6. TomCritchlow Says:

    May 8th, 2007 at 4:31 am

    Very interesting Andy – I echo Loren in wondering if Yahoo are doing this to drive more people to sign up?

    Also – I hope this means that perhaps someone in the industry will put together a DECENT keyphrase research tool. I’ve found that people have been relying on this one for far too long and just ‘making do’ with it. Hopefully this will clear the way for someone to come in with a bigger better tool.

    Tom

  7. Yahoo! Keyword Selector Tool Phasing Out | Search Daily News Says:

    May 10th, 2007 at 8:04 am

    [...] An extract of the letter sent to marketing pilgrim reads: [...]

  8. This Week In SEO - 5/11/07 - TheVanBlog Says:

    May 11th, 2007 at 9:21 pm

    [...] Yahoo Keeps Keyword Inventory Tool on Life Support [...]

  9. SEO for Lawyers, Attorneys and Law Firms » No More Lawyer Search Stats: Yahoo Kills Keyword Tool Says:

    May 29th, 2007 at 6:16 pm

    [...] Unfortunately, Yahoo has killed off continuing support for its Keyword Selector Tool. As you may recall, I used this tool in order to gain estimates of overall search traffic for lawyers. So for the moment, I am no longer able to update the search engine stats page for lawyer searches. I will try and find some workaround for this and get the stats page updated with new information as soon as I can. Regrettably, I will have to suspend updates to the page until I can do so. If anybody has any ideas, please email me or post a response.   [...]

  10. Alternatives to Outdated Yahoo/Overture Keyword Tool | Tools & Resources | Web Marketing Strategies Says:

    August 14th, 2007 at 4:03 am

    [...] Andy Beal reported this in May 2007 but yet we still see many internet marketers and gurus recommending this tool. Or worse still, using it. So much for perfect knowledge spreading fast among the internet eh. [...]

  11. Erik Says:

    January 24th, 2008 at 11:19 am

    Is there another place to find a keyword search tool? All I know of is Overture.

    Erik Gall
    http://www.useddialers.com
    Call center software

  12. Andy Beal Says:

    January 24th, 2008 at 11:24 am

    @Erik- try wordtracker.com or keyworddiscovery.com.

  13. Marc Says:

    May 16th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

    Whenever I try to access the site, the page the page never loads. I get “could not open the page “http://inventory.overture.com/” because the server is not responding.”