Advertisers strongly oppose this move since they believe ICANN is trying to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. WebProNews spoke with Doug Wood, the General Counsel for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), who told us that these changes could harm both brands and consumers. According to him, not only could brands become susceptible to cyber squatting and phishing attacks as a result, but the changes could also cause confusion among consumers.

“The idea of this being successful and delivering the competition or the innovation that they are speculating on is clearly questionable,” he said.

The ANA, along with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), the Direct Marketing Association, and more, are rallying to get ICANN to overturn their changes.

As Matt Malden explains to WebProNews, Yield Software has taken a holistic approach to these areas. The company understands that advertisers cannot only focus on one area and neglect the others. As a result, Yield Software offers a cloud-based solution that includes organic search optimization, PPC optimization, and landing page optimization.

Malden also points out that Yield helps its users understand the importance of utilizing both paid and organic search. Often times, users do one and not the other. Malden said when users choose one area over another, it actually drives up their costs-per-acquisition.

In addition, sometimes users are so focused on getting the traffic to their site that they overlook conversions. However, they need to realize that all the areas are equally important in producing the best results.

Since the technology is cloud-based, it can be updated anytime. Malden told WPN that the company is constantly updating the software to ensure that it is effective. Also on the plus side, there is no software to install due to the cloud.

For more information on this solution, visit Yield Software.

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.

Advertisers love the idea of having their marketing appear in video and mobile search. But many of them aren’t willing to pay a premium price for it. A new survey by the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization said that two out of five marketers want to pay the same for video ads as they do for traditional search advertising. Mobile ads have less appeal right now, with more than half of those surveyed saying they will not pay a premium for them. Kevin Lee, member of the Board of Directors of SEMPO and chair of its Research Committee, compared video and mobile advertising to the early years of cable TV and pay per click ads. Once upon a time, no one wanted to buy those either.

Google has had its ups and down in South Korea. They have been slowly gaining more users for their search and Gmail services in the country. Google has gained much more attention from the Korean government’s Fair Trade Commission, which recently told Google to change a number of clauses in its AdSense contract. Those clauses violate fair trade laws in Korea, like one that allows Google to refuse participation to any AdSense network member at any time at Google’s whim. Google’s office in South Korea told the Commission they will revise the offending clauses. The country has a fast-growing online ad market that should top one billion dollars in spending this year, and Google does not want to be shut out of that.