At the recent Search Marketing Expo (SMX) East conference, WebProNews talked with Yahoo’s David Miller about the company’s paid search efforts in terms of what the company has in the pipelines for conversion improvement, user control, etc.

Miller talks about how the tentative Yahoo Microsoft deal will be bringing more competition to search as well as more innovation for advertisers, users, and publishers. The deal is still subject to approval, but Yahoo is hoping it will be approved early next year.

Miller reiterates that Yahoo is not giving up on search and intends to add value, control, and transparency. With regards to control, Yahoo has launched the ad delivery report, which allows advertisers to see how campaigns are performing on different parts of sites. Early next year, Miller says Yahoo will be launching “network distribution,” and advertisers will have the ability to separately bid on campaigns for Yahoo, the partner network, or both.

Miller also discusses a tool Yahoo currently has in beta, which is expected to roll out early next year as well. It is an offline tool that lets advertisers control their accounts without having to be connected to the Internet.

Yahoo has also been working on enhancements in ad selection to help advertisers maximize conversions. Miller talks a little about these too.