“O” is for “Orwellian”

Posted by Laura

May 12, 2005

So I get a note from Yahoo this morning. Here is an excerpt:

“In coordination with our efforts we are requesting that our Publishers join in the effort and re-brand all current and future advertisements to indicate Yahoo! Search Marketing , Yahoo! Sponsored Search, or Yahoo! Search Marketing, formally Overture. The Yahoo! Search Marketing affiliate program still allows direct linking for Google Ad-words as long as the Ad is properly re-branded. However we are no longer allowing affiliates that have not re-branded their advertisements to link directly to our site. ”

In other words, they’re serious about their re-branding, to the tune of being punitive. If you’re a publisher (I am) and you refer to Yahoo! Search Marketing as “Overture” in your advertising — you won’t get paid for plugging or advertising their site.

Oh, yes, there’s more: and if you advertise at Google Adwords, you can’t use the “O” word in your advertising, either. By being thusly punitive, Yahoo! hopes it can use negative reinforcement to erase the “O” word from your mind.

“O” is for “Orwellian”.

Here’s their recommended ad re-write:

List Your Site with Yahoo! Sponsored Search and appear on the top of search results of leading sites like Yahoo!, MSN, AltaVista and CNN.com. Sign up and get a $25 credit.