Yahoo! makes pay-per-click overtures
Internet portal giant Yahoo! has begun offering pay-per-click advertising in Hong Kong, targeting the city's small and medium-sized enterprises with monthly rates starting at $240.
Yahoo! will offer the services through its wholly owned search service provider Overture. The 'pay for performance' model is available in 19 other markets and replaces the sponsored searches introduced more than a year ago.
'We are confident about this product,' said Alfred Tsoi, Yahoo! Hong Kong general manger. 'We hope to boost our market share with this new advertising service.'
The company has signed up 130 advertisers since soft launching the service on February 14. The companies pay between 50 cents and $2 per click, depending on the popularity of the search item.
However, Yahoo! is launching pay-per-click advertising at a time when companies are becoming increasingly wary of click fraud - the practice of producing false hits to drive up fees.
In its recent listing document, market leader Google warned of growing click fraud, saying it was forced to regularly refund fees because of fraudulent clicks and expected to continue do so.
'If we are unable to stop this fraudulent activity, these refunds may increase,' Google said. 'If we are unable to remain competitive and provide value to our advertisers, they may stop placing ads with us, which would affect our net revenues and business.'
But Yahoo! and Overture claimed click fraud was not common, saying they used a software program to detect abnormal click patterns.
'Furthermore, Overture staff monitors unusual click patterns on a 24-hour basis,' Yahoo! said. 'Such programs are consistently in place to ensure only qualified leads are delivered to our advertisers.'
According to AC Nielsen, Yahoo! in December reached 86 per cent of active internet users in Hong Kong, compared with 58 per cent for MSN and 31 per cent for Sina.com.
Yahoo! has also partnered with PCCW Directories to incorporate Internet Yellow Pages into its search-engine results. Overture also works with MSN and search website Timway in Hong Kong.
Overture's international operations vice-president Pam Thompson said the firm planned to take its service to the mainland this year.
