Yahoo Adds Search Marketing Offline Editor

You could say Yahoo! has been going through changes — its voice is dropping, hair is growing in the darnedest places and Microsoft’s Bing is going to be its default provider of algorithmic and paid search services for the next 10 years — as soon as regulators stamp their approval. However, with its metamorphosis Yahoo! has also added something that will please search marketers — an offline ad editor. The Yahoo! Search Marketing Desktop, something long desired by marketers, will cut out much of the pain in making bulk changes or restructuring a campaign. David Pann, vice president and general manager of Yahoo!’s U.S. Search Advertising Business, told ClickZ that some clients have been able to make global campaign changes in a half hour that used to take several. The tool is currently in private beta but will be introduced to all advertisers next year. Eventually, users will be able to export campaigns to other platforms, which could prove handy if/when the Bing deal comes through.