Panama (ad system)
Encyclopedia
Panama is an online advertising platform created by Yahoo!
.
The new advertising platform is Yahoo’s effort to close the wide gap with Google
in the race for search advertising dollars, a fast-growing business currently dominated by Google.
The first release was code-named Project Panama, which went live in October 2006 for Yahoo!'s existing customers. Customers with accounts already on Yahoo! were transferred over to the new system over the following few months.
(previously named Goto.com). Until Panama, Yahoo! search continued to operate the original simplistic algorithm
which ranked text ads according to how much advertisers bid for the keyword searched by user. Meanwhile, Google operates under a more sophisticated model, which ranks paid ads on the basis of bid price as well as prior click through rates. This improvement generally produces higher click through rates (hence higher revenues) for the search engine.
For example, an ambulance-chasing attorney bidding for the keywords "back pain" would likely get a lower clickthrough rate than the keyword "physiotherapist", regardless of what the two parties bid per click. An algorithm that eventually de-prioritises attorney's ad is better for the search engine (in terms of revenue produced) and the user (more relevant ads).
Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, United States. The company is perhaps best known for its web portal, search engine , Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Groups, Yahoo! Answers, advertising, online mapping ,...
.
The new advertising platform is Yahoo’s effort to close the wide gap with Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
in the race for search advertising dollars, a fast-growing business currently dominated by Google.
The first release was code-named Project Panama, which went live in October 2006 for Yahoo!'s existing customers. Customers with accounts already on Yahoo! were transferred over to the new system over the following few months.
History
Yahoo! inherited the search advertising business when it purchased OvertureOverture
Overture in music is the term originally applied to the instrumental introduction to an opera...
(previously named Goto.com). Until Panama, Yahoo! search continued to operate the original simplistic algorithm
Algorithm
In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
which ranked text ads according to how much advertisers bid for the keyword searched by user. Meanwhile, Google operates under a more sophisticated model, which ranks paid ads on the basis of bid price as well as prior click through rates. This improvement generally produces higher click through rates (hence higher revenues) for the search engine.
For example, an ambulance-chasing attorney bidding for the keywords "back pain" would likely get a lower clickthrough rate than the keyword "physiotherapist", regardless of what the two parties bid per click. An algorithm that eventually de-prioritises attorney's ad is better for the search engine (in terms of revenue produced) and the user (more relevant ads).