Yahoo Search Marketing just updated there affiliate news/changes.

Here is the basic rundown

Earn Cash with New Incentive Program – Affiliates that exceed their Sponsored Search sign-up goal during November are eligible to earn incentives of up to $500!

Keyword Suggestions for the Holiday Season – In your account you now see they have suggested keywords for you to target based on what is working for you. (DUH)

Min. Deposit Down to $5; Min. Spend Eliminated. – Pretty much self explanatory…..

I am not sure yet how this will effect me. If you can only receive the 500$ incentive if your a new customer then it will do me no good… The Keyword suggestion tool for the holiday season seems kind of lame and I doubt I will use it but I think that people who dont have the h4x0r tools that I have will find it useful. The Min deposit reductions and min spending eliminated are great things for this program.

So in closing I think the biggest change to come out of this newsletter is the min deposit and spending limit reductions. Many people want to try these programs but are scared when they see the have to make a large deposit and promise a min spending allowance. Good call Yahoo! on this.

And here is the full story from the newsletter-

Earn Cash with New Incentive Program

It’s nearly holiday season, and we don’t have to tell you that this is Prime Time for online marketers and the Web advertising industry in general. To get this “most wonderful time of the year” off to a rousing start, we’re pleased to have offered an incentive program for our affiliates during November.

Affiliates that exceed their Sponsored Search sign-up goal during November are eligible to earn incentives of up to $500!

For more information, please contact the Yahoo! Search Marketing program manager.

Min. Deposit Down to $5; Min. Spend Eliminated

On November 4 we lowered our minimum deposit for new advertisers to just $5, all of which continues to be applied to click charges. We expect this change to increase prospective advertisers’ interest in a trial of Yahoo! Search Marketing, which could lead to a potentially higher conversion rate and more commissions for our affiliates.

Additionally, beginning November, the monthly minimum spending requirement for Yahoo! Sponsored Search accounts has been eliminated. Previously, all Sponsored Search advertisers were required to spend at least $20 a month in click-through charges. Now, advertisers can choose to spend as much or as little as they like, with no minimum to meet. We anticipate that this change will make advertising with us even easier, thus making it easier for you to generate new business referrals.

Keyword Suggestions for the Holiday Season

We know that many of our affiliates promote Yahoo! Search Marketing and other programs through sponsored search campaigns. With continued growth expected in online holiday shopping this year, you’ll want to be prepared to maximize your opportunities this season. To help you get ready, we have reviewed search logs from the holiday period last year to identify seasonal queries that can be relevant to your business.

Click here to view search terms, categorized to allow you to quickly identify those that are most relevant for you. We hope that this data will help your business grow and enable you to make your search marketing campaigns even more profitable.