• ClickZ News, Tuesday, January 17, 2006 11:30 AM

This week sponsored search text ads on Yahoo! begin getting smaller, going from 190 to 70 characters. And even though they will have less room to deliver their message, search marketers say they welcome the change as a positive sign of industry standardization. They agreed that the change, announced in December and implemented this week, will allow advertisers to manage their keyword buys more easily, compare results across engines, and create ads that are more in line with consumer behavior. "The shift to a shortened description reflects a growing trend toward alignment with consumer expectations and current market conditions," said Noah Elkin, director of industry relations at icrossing. "We also believe that growing broadband penetration is forcing users to think and act more quickly, in line with how technology in general is changing." Yahoo! says that the move will improve the end-user experience, and increase an ad's click-through rate while maintaining conversion levels.

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