Yahoo Ads: Everything You Should Know for Profitable Campaigns

Google certainly owns the largest search market share and Google Ads may be top-of-mind when someone thinks PPC ads. But, that doesn’t mean Yahoo ads can be forgotten. This begs the question…

Why advertise on Yahoo?

Yahoo Search alone reaches over 117M unique searchers per month. So if you’re relying solely on Google ads — and ignoring Yahoo advertising altogether — you’re automatically missing out on over 30% of your potential market.

Who uses Yahoo?

Some examples include older web users who have used Yahoo their entire lives and employees on workplace computers with locked default browsers set to Yahoo.

To appeal to advertisers’ demand for multiple ad formats, Yahoo offers their fair share of ad types.

Ad formats available on the Yahoo ads network

Search ads

Yahoo search ads are effective because they’re highly relevant to what searchers are already looking for, targeted toward an audience with high intent. These searchers are more likely to click paid search ads, meaning they have a higher chance to convert into a customer than someone without any interest or intent.

To demonstrate, this Taboola search ad is highly relevant to the search query, contains a benefit-oriented headline and description, and shows an optimized display URL:

Once clicked, searchers end up on this click-through landing page where they can create a Taboola account:

Display ads

Yahoo display ads can be shown to people who previously showed interest in your brand, product, or service. This is a form of personalized advertising called retargeting (aka remarketing). Instead of appearing in search engine results, they’re located at the top, bottom, sides, or middle of the content on a web page.

This Dynamic Yield banner ad is an example at the top of Yahoo’s homepage:

When clicked, prospects are brought to this dedicated landing page:

Another example is this BetterHelp display ad, which appeared in the right side margin of the Yahoo homepage. It directs prospects to the following landing page:

Sponsored ads

Sponsored ads come in multiple formats: single-image, carousel, native, and video. Here’s a single-image sponsored ad by Spectrum that contains one image, a headline, and short description:

It takes prospects to this Spectrum landing page when clicked:

Sponsored ads in carousel format provide advertisers the ability to tell an impactful visual story by grouping three to five cards together. Each with an image and a caption, and each linking to a unique landing page. Carousel ads are available on desktop and mobile and can drive 2-3x higher click-through rates than single-image sponsored ads.

This 3-card desktop carousel ad, sponsored by World Finance Loans brings prospects to the following landing page:

Native video ads blend with the content of the platform they’re on and appear organic to the user. Sponsored video ads serve across desktop and mobile, and are muted by default, as not to disrupt or negatively impact the user experience.

This ad format regularly outperforms other ad types with view and completion rates, too. One recent study showed that Yahoo native video ads drove a 50% increase in brand favorability and a 28% increase in purchase intent.

This Zillow sponsored video ad is a great example to show the comparison and how similar they appear, blending in with surrounding content:

Yahoo Mail ads

Yahoo Mail ads are exclusively appearing in the email platform and have produced click-through rates as high as 4x industry averages.

One type of mail ad presents natively as the top email in a user’s inbox, like this Discover Card ad:

When the user clicks the ad, it displays in the Mail message pane, just like any other email.

If users open the Discover Card mail ad above, they see this credit card landing page:

Yahoo Mail ads also include targeted banner ads. Here’s one from Nespresso, offering a $50 off coupon with a “Shop Now” CTA button:

Instapage, users see this sales page where they can make a purchase:

Note: The Instapage digital advertising specs guide contains everything you need in one place. Dimensions, file formats, examples, and more — to create each of these ad formats across all platforms and devices.

How much does it cost to advertise on Yahoo?

Naturally, Yahoo ads vary in price, depending on the format you choose. However, one thing does remain relatively constant: it’s inexpensive to advertise on Yahoo.

Due to lower search volumes, and therefore low competition, cost per click can be very low. So even if you only generate one customer or sale from advertising on Yahoo, your ROI is still likely to be impressive.

User-reported pricing data — based on 1,357 user reviews across 10 different advertising products — demonstrates that Yahoo advertising was ranked in the 32nd percentile for cost in the Search Advertising category:

So although the search volume isn’t as high compared to other platforms, it’s still wise to take advantage of the Yahoo ads network.

Start taking advantage of Yahoo Ads

Yahoo complements any digital marketers advertising strategy by filling in any gaps in their online presence. With various ad formats and specs, and attractive cost opportunities, Yahoo advertising simply can’t be forgotten.

To create the most optimized Yahoo ad, refer to the Instapage digital ad specs guide for the most up to date ad specs and targeting options. Then be sure to complete your Yahoo ad campaign by providing an optimal landing page from ad to landing page with Instapage. Sign up for an Instapage 14-day free trial today.