Pay for Play

Type "Music" into yahoo's search engine, and a box at the top of the results page loudly promotes Columbia House's latest CD sale. Search for "shoes," and you get a full-color pitch from Shoebuy.com. The ads arise from a new Sponsored Site program, whereby top spots on Yahoo's directory pages are now for sale. A few days after Yahoo initiated the program, Amazon.com announced a similar revenue-bolstering move: charging publishers to plug their books in e-mail promotions.

The Internet behemoths' new tactics indicate that even the biggest players are concerned about shrinking online revenue. "With a bunch of dot-coms going out of business and skepticism about banners, ad revenue has become a problem for everybody," says Craig Landy, producer of SearchEngines.com, a site that studies trends and suggests tactics to get listed on search engines.

Srinija Srinivasan, Yahoo's editor-in-chief, cites convenience for users, and affordability— as little as $25 per month—for small companies who rely on search engines to supplement publicity. Srinivasan says businesses have an "effective way to promote their sites, differentiate themselves to potential customers, and become more accessible to their target audiences."

Landy says that's fine—as long as people know the difference.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Ziff Davis Smart Business.