Evidently some people got the impression from my presentation that I had been banned by Yahoo Publisher Network. This is not the case. They just informed me that my traffic was converting poorly. After doing some research and finding YPN ads for diesel fuel and RV rental on my ring tone website it seemed pretty obvious why they were not converting well. I talked to Yahoo yesterday and they are still looking into the targeting issue.
I just looked and saw vonage ad, a ad for ballet slippers, and I still see that add for Diesel fuel. Can you tell me what ads you see?
(also if you refresh you can see the difference between Yahoo and Google Adsense and there targeting).
EDIT 4/24 9AM CST – I have gotten a few emails asking why I have had Google on my radio show but not Yahoo Publisher Network. I have invited them 2 times to come on the show but they have not been able to. Microsoft has agreed to come on the show in the next couple weeks to address users questions.
- Comment Likes 
- Comment Dislikes
April 28, 2007 at 11:45 am
a distant third once again
April 28, 2007 at 11:45 am
vonage pisses me offf… but ypn pays out much higher that adsense
April 26, 2007 at 10:06 pm
What good would it do with YPN anyway? I wonder what would come up if you had a website about diesel fuel…
April 26, 2007 at 10:04 pm
The question is CAN they fix the problem? I bailed on them after two weeks of basement earnings on my sites.
April 26, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Ouch!
April 26, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Cant wait to hear from Microsoft
April 26, 2007 at 2:52 am
I had my account banned yesterday thanks to the issues above. The only thing thats annoyed me is it cost me $4000 to set up as Im in the UK and had to set up a US corp etc
April 25, 2007 at 11:15 pm
er, I can see the connection there.. not
April 25, 2007 at 11:14 pm
This is really interesting….
I never would have thought the problem would have been this bad.
April 25, 2007 at 9:16 pm
I sold my YPN account last night for a little over $930.
April 25, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I saw diet of the year, karaoke, and GPS navigation sale ads on the home page.
The only place I saw relevant ads was on the forum. All ringtone ads, they even had one targeted for an Aussie audience (Optus via dada.)
I’d say they have a long way to come where their targeting is concerned.
April 25, 2007 at 11:35 am
I see workers compensation ads…maybe Nextel = construction worker = workers compensation …but lame anyway
April 25, 2007 at 9:01 am
No wonder why you’re getting no clicks. That would be obnoxious.
April 25, 2007 at 7:27 am
Too bad the Google Ringtone ads dont pay very much. Im getting 100 clicks a day for a lousy $5
April 25, 2007 at 7:26 am
Its not like they are showing at the same time, so why would it matter?
April 25, 2007 at 7:25 am
Adsense is always much better. Yahoo never seems to show anything relivant
April 24, 2007 at 10:40 pm
I got banned 3days ago after sending in a support ticket regarding the terrible ads which were showing up. Than they replied saying my ads were not converting. I will come up to you/tell you tomorrow.
Later,
Neil Patel Jr./Harrison (thats what neil calls me)
April 24, 2007 at 8:28 pm
gave me the quality isn’t up to par crap… but there targeting sucks… I am still contesting it so we shall see if it sticks.
April 24, 2007 at 8:04 pm
But I thought Yahoo doesn’t allow YPN/Adsense on the same page?
April 24, 2007 at 7:56 pm
No ringtones ads here, but something really “targeted” like ….
Littleton Chiropractic
Free Initial Exam. Chiropractic Care for Back Pain,
littletonhealthpartners.com
April 24, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Just because you gave YPN a hard time in your presentation, doesn’t mean you got canned. That would be whinging about it. Often customers who complain (sensibly) can be your best customers, quite different from those just out for a moan.
April 24, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Seeing ringtone ads here so I guess the problem is solved?
April 24, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Everyone knows that one.
It’s the 9000 other ones Shoe keeps quiet about.
April 24, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Yeah Yahoo will never come close to the targeting adsense has
April 24, 2007 at 3:54 pm
accourding the to revised terms of service you can run them both on the same page as long as its not confusing to the user which is which.
April 24, 2007 at 3:53 pm
seriously useless comments like this will get you banned from making future comments
April 24, 2007 at 1:37 pm
I see Vonage, travel to Nova Scotia, and something for Sucession Planning Software.
Google ads show 3 Nextel related ads, and one for free mp3 ringtones.
April 24, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Shoe- in SF Bay Area-
YPN shows
1) Vonage ad
2) Geo Targeted ad for San Jose Insurance Rep from State Farm
3) Buena Park House Values (OCHouseValuesINfo.com)
Vonage is kinda sorta related, insurance ad is bad, but # 3 is the WORST- I’m 500 miles away from Buena Park.
Adsense ads are on the money- ringtones all around
April 24, 2007 at 1:19 pm
I also got the boot from YPN today…. seems like a ton of people got kicked today under the pretense of “poor quality traffic”.
BS
April 24, 2007 at 1:15 pm
i see Vonage, and ad for a vase at Expo (LOL) and an ad for a law firm!
and to Chris a couple of posts above me…this site Shoe has disclosed for a while as being one of his…not new info there.
April 24, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Haha, Blue Cross and Blue Shield!
April 24, 2007 at 1:10 pm
I wouldn’t think the targeting would be that hard to achieve. The keywords are all there?
April 24, 2007 at 1:08 pm
I’ve never had any good experiences with YPN. The only reason I have any goodwill towards them at all is because Shoe seems to think highly of them. I think thinking there must be something there?
April 24, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Did I miss something or did you just release the url to one of your sites?
April 24, 2007 at 11:53 am
Targetting for ads is a problem for a lot of programs, for example Why is Auction Ads showing Purses on my cell phone site?( where I inputed correct keywords and even negs)
April 24, 2007 at 11:51 am
When I was on their I got an ad for myrtle beach!…lol Maybe because I’m from south carolina…and I got a vontage ad
April 24, 2007 at 11:50 am
Yahoo: Vonage, Wells Fargo, Eye Laser Surgery.
Google: Ringtones.
April 24, 2007 at 11:23 am
I got vonage, motorola and South Carolina real estate on your site. I have not signed up for YPN yet. Maybe I should wait.
April 24, 2007 at 11:12 am
Yahoo’s targeting is SO bad I removed their ads too.
April 24, 2007 at 11:12 am
Targeting is crap, but how’d you get booted?
April 24, 2007 at 11:09 am
You might try using Ad Categories / Subcategories on your YPN campaign. Try Selecting “Telecommunications / Internet Service Providers” as your Ad Category and “Telecommunications” as your Ad Subcategory. You should get better ads served.
I suspect Yahoo is confused because the keywording on the page is quite diverse and therefore, it’s serving “stock ads”.
April 24, 2007 at 10:38 am
As Greg-J mentioned, I fall in this bucket:
2) Your traffic is converting poorly and we have disabled ad targeting on your account. There have been several instances where people have reported they found this out by logging into their YPN account and seeing their ad targeting feature gone with no notification email although I can’t confirm that is the case. You would think that email was automated, but reportedly it isn’t.
Now my problem is this:
YPN, blamed me for targetting ads related to SCHOOL for a site of males 18-25. Not only that but they do not serve 3 REMOTELY SIMILAR ads. I get one for VOIP, another ad for cancer treatment and another ad for cars in random states.
Who’s fault is that? Luckly I didn’t get banned from the program but seriously it’s a targetting issue on their end. Don’t blame me for that. Now I have no targetting and it just serves random ads.
April 24, 2007 at 9:30 am
Wow, that’s some poor targeting alright. Here’s what I have….
Vonage – Vonage.com
Need an Answering Service? Answernet.com
and the worst
Church Creek toyota – BuyAToyota.com Great deals on 07′ or 06 cars your MD DE VA WVA PA & DC.
Yahoo!, I’m in California, I’d love a great deal on a VA Toyota but I think the delivery fee may negate any deal I get. I sure hope this ad isn’t GeoTargeted…….
April 24, 2007 at 9:09 am
Its all vonage ads from Yahoo. Your better off just putting a Vonage banner ad up and collecting the $50 or whatever they offer when you get someone signed up.
April 24, 2007 at 9:07 am
Vonage ads always seem to show up. I think they have some kind of special deal with yahoo.
April 24, 2007 at 8:45 am
I see vonage, a (geotargeted) local ad for bulk trash pickup, and VOIP.
Trash pick and ringtones…huh, that makes sense.
April 24, 2007 at 8:23 am
I do not use section targeting
April 24, 2007 at 8:22 am
easiest way would probably be to just search for [my chemical romance] and if ads are showing up
April 24, 2007 at 8:21 am
I think both Google and Yahoo need to give publishers some control over the ads.. of course I also think they need to do more work on quality control so the publishers getting into the program don’t pay for the scams of others to the same degree we do now.
April 24, 2007 at 8:18 am
Almost makes you feel sorry for the poor suckers paying for ads on YPN, I mean really how many hundreds of thousands are being lost on this..
April 24, 2007 at 8:17 am
Im quite surprised that YPN has been around for well over 1.5 years now and it’s still having such big difficulties.. I don’t recall adsense taking that long to get on it’s feet but then again I didn’t follow it to closely when it was launched.
April 24, 2007 at 8:15 am
I see Vonage, voip and Type 1 Diabetes.
April 24, 2007 at 8:08 am
I see that all of them are ringtone ads. I wish my YPN ads were just as targeted.
Do you know if I can see how many people are advertising for keywords like “my chemical romance” ?
April 24, 2007 at 8:03 am
yeah the targeting is pretty bad, but shoe I have to say you are the man for making a site like that make you so much money
April 24, 2007 at 7:53 am
Well man atleast they contacted you and didn’t just boot. I got booted and i am currently fighting it… we shall see what happens… As it is the same with your case I can’t help if the ads arent targeting properly…
April 24, 2007 at 7:31 am
Wow, Yahoo’s ad targeting is pretty bad..
April 24, 2007 at 7:31 am
Yahoo is terrible. As someone else stated, they dont have enough ads so your always left with these trashy ads that are unrelated to your website. They need to get their act together
April 24, 2007 at 7:30 am
The google ads are the best Contextual advertising.
April 24, 2007 at 7:20 am
Voip phone systems, Vonage, Teeth in a day (clinically proven)
April 24, 2007 at 7:06 am
As others said, YPN is Vonage, VOIP, and Virtual PBX Phone System, all three G ads have ‘ringtones’ right in the title – I wonder which has a better CTR. I’m on the East Coast US if that helps you out at all as well. I hope they can clear it up for you soon, Shoe.
April 24, 2007 at 6:49 am
All Voice Over IP Ad’s.
When the Google Ad’s show up they are all ringtone related.
April 24, 2007 at 6:37 am
I see voip, vonage, and public schools (ads).
April 24, 2007 at 6:27 am
YPN has always had problems with targeting. After all this time you’d expect they’d have dealt with that, and also rolled it outside of the US. Definitely holding onto their losing streak. 2c.
April 24, 2007 at 6:25 am
I noticed that too but why would you want to have them click on ads for gas if they’re reading about ringtones and cell phones.
April 24, 2007 at 6:18 am
The YPN ads I’m seeing are for Vonage and other VoIP offers. Is that Yahoo’s idea of “targeted” ads? Argh, YPN targeting is just *so* bad these day.
April 24, 2007 at 6:12 am
New design!
April 24, 2007 at 6:09 am
This is bullsh!t, people are getting banned for not concerting? YPN’s marketplace sucks, they don’t have enough advertisers, therefore relevant ads are not being shown, therefore the ads are not converting.
I have not been banned, I’m just saying this is stupid, I’m almost ready to just sell my account, I’m sure someone at DP will take it.
April 24, 2007 at 6:03 am
Jeremy:
I was at SES in NY and attended your prsentation, which I enjoyed. I DID NOT get the impression that you were banned from YPN. It seemed to me that you inidicated, instead, that YPN was much less effective than AdSense and that they did not have their act together (one of the reasons they did not show-up for their presentation at SES as scheduled).
As far as YPN ads on your ringtone web site is concerned, I just checked and found the following ads running:
1. Business Small VOIP (VOIPReview.com)
2. Vonage – Official Site (Vonage.com)
3. Hurricane Shutter Factory (Stormwisehurricaneshutters.com)
Yahoo and YPN have a long way to go.
April 24, 2007 at 5:25 am
I see dead people.
April 24, 2007 at 5:09 am
I see Vonage, Voip and Used Honda Cars.
April 24, 2007 at 4:30 am
The ads rotate between Adsense, with relevant ads (ringtones, mobile phones etc) or Yahoo ads for Aerial photography, DJ mixers, and electronics. See those Yahoo ads for all pages/refreshes.
Oh, and Auction Ads of course.
April 24, 2007 at 4:30 am
Shoe do you use section targeting on Adsense?
April 24, 2007 at 4:08 am
For YPN I see some ads related to selling CAM/CAD software, DJ-ing equipment and one ad about mobiles. If it helps you, for Google, on http://www.nextpimp.com/nextel-ringtones.php I see one ad for buying Nascar tickets and 3 for mobile ringtones. Way better, I’d say!
April 24, 2007 at 4:02 am
Why getting into Yahoo publisher network at the first place? What do they offer more than the reputable and popular Adsense? Better bids for example?
April 24, 2007 at 3:28 am
I see only One YPN Ad. Refresh it 2 times.
uxcell.com
April 24, 2007 at 2:58 am
I see Vonage & 2 other VOIP ads with Yahoo. A quick refresh and Google shows 4 relevant ringtone ads.
Clearly your fault for not building a VOIP site around the random ads Yahoo displays.
I’m assuming you’re splitting it 50/50 with Google & Yahoo on that site, right? Going by the ads I see, wouldn’t your income double if you dumped Yahoo?
April 24, 2007 at 2:45 am
just this one for YSM
Tonze Electronics
Maker of electronics such as NTC thermistor,
April 24, 2007 at 2:45 am
This is something that is very prevalent in the myspace resource site arena right now. And not just to the little guys.
I’ve noticed quite a few people getting the boot from Yahoo for poor conversions on MyspacePros. Depending on various – seemingly unknown – factors, individuals running YPN on myspace resource sites are receiving one of three notifications.
note* These are summarized, but accurate.
1) Your traffic is converting poorly and Yahoo has terminated your account. You will be paid in 90 days for your current earnings minus any revenue Yahoo feels ‘poorly converted’. If your payout is less than $100, they’ll keep it regardless.
2) Your traffic is converting poorly and we have disabled ad targeting on your account. There have been several instances where people have reported they found this out by logging into their YPN account and seeing their ad targeting feature gone with no notification email although I can’t confirm that is the case. You would think that email was automated, but reportedly it isn’t.
3) Your traffic is converting poorly, please remove YPN from the offending site. I have only seen this twice and in both cases the individuals weren’t what I would consider “big players” so it’s hard to say.
The problem – as so many have pointed out – is their complete failure in contextual delivery. On several accounts where they have disabled ad targeting, users have reported that the ads are no more (at times even less) relevant than the ads the site owner was using. The conversion rates and payouts have reportedly been much less as well.
My plea to Yahoo is this: If you’re going to allow us to target the ads to our users based on what we – the site owners – feel they will respond to, let us. If not, improve your ad targeting so we don’t have to target them for you. Stop banning people from your program for using a feature you built into your service because of your inability to deliver your service as advertised.
Should YPN even be considered contextual at this time?
April 24, 2007 at 2:45 am
I’m seeing CAD software and mp3 players with yahoo.
The google ads are definitely better targetted.
April 24, 2007 at 2:32 am
vonage and brain injury..
April 24, 2007 at 2:30 am
hahaha…there’s one for a VOIP system another for Botox treatment.
April 24, 2007 at 1:57 am
Google ads are right on theme for the site… the Yahoo ads however return some strange shit. #1 VoIP ad, #2 brain injuries in children and #3 a plumbing ad lol…
Your site must be targeting children with brain injuries from a plumbers wrench accident and looking for the annoying ring tone to the Vonage commercial theme song. Correct? =P
April 24, 2007 at 1:47 am
wow its amazing going through your site how much better targeted the Google Adsense ads are Verses the Yahoo ones
April 24, 2007 at 1:46 am
shoe – I had the same thing happen to me. They told me the ads were not converting well but they did ban me for it. I think Yahoo needs to fix the problem.