Well, it’s official. Yahoo made an announcement that they will no longer offer Paid Inclusion as of December 31, 2009. Specifically, the two programs affected are “Search Submit Basic” and “Search Submit Pro” (Yahoo SSP).
Yahoo submitted this official statement on the subject:
We are committing our resources and efforts to our core areas of focus, including improving the search experience and relevancy of our ads to increase user engagement and ROI for advertisers, and as a result, have decided to exit Search Submit. We have stepped up innovation in Search Marketing, recently rolling out search retargeting, Rich Ads in Search and improved matching technology, and in Consumer Search, with enhancements like the new search results page. These enhancements deliver value, control, innovation and relevance to our advertisers, leading to increased ROI.
Yahoo! will exit Search Submit at the end of 2009. Yahoo! is providing those advertisers affected by the decision a sufficient lead time to assist in the transition. In addition, Yahoo! has recently announced a series of important enhancements to its Search advertising business and will work closely with many Search Submit advertisers to provide them with search solutions that will benefit their businesses.
What does this discontinuation mean for your internet marketing campaign? Without this marketing tool, it means that on site SEO is more important than ever. Without the luxury of paying for inclusion, companies must make sure that their optimization plan is aggressive and effective.