New Rules for Yahoo! Listings
by Marc Lee, CFRE

As of December 28, 2001 new directory listings submitted through the Yahoo! Express option are subject to a non-refundable recurring ANNUAL fee of $299.00.

This is a change from what was previously a one time fee of $299 (it had been raised from $199 earlier in 2001).

Directory entries already listed with Yahoo! before 12/28/01 are not be subject to the annual fee.

(It is probably important to say that technically Yahoo! charges a fee that guarantees not a listing, but a review within seven days. For practical purposes sites that otherwise meet Yahoo's criteria for listing will appear after the fee is paid and the review is complete.)

In theory, non-commercial sites will still be considered by Yahoo! for new listings without a fee. But most site marketers will tell you that trying to get a free listing at Yahoo! has gone from being unreliable to almost impossible in the face of Yahoo! staff cutbacks.

For years the only practical way to get any web site reviewed and accepted by Yahoo!, whether commercial or nonprofit, has been to pay the Yahoo! Express fee.

When that fee was only $199 it was within the reach of smaller nonprofit organizations, and even at a one time fee of $299 it was still manageable. But the possibility of paying $299 annually should cause npo managers to ask whether their monies are well invested.

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Why is this important? For years Yahoo! has been one of the most significant search engine or directory in which you could be listed. Now there are other important competitors in this market, notably Google, and Yahoo! is no longer dominant.

But for many public benefit corporations, search engines are by no means the most important vehicle for building awareness of your web site.

Given the propensity of search engine companies to think alike, we may well see other annual fees for listing emerge.

It will be important to have counters in place so that you know just how many visits your annual fees are buying. And then you should act accordingly.

It is not impossible that this situation will change again. Check back for updated information.

Begin Excerpt From the Yahoo! site

"Subject to the terms below, and in Yahoo!'s sole discretion, if your web site is accepted for inclusion in the Directory as part of Yahoo! Express on or after December 28, 2001, then your web site's continued inclusion in the Directory will be subject to additional review each year and to the applicable, then current NON-REFUNDABLE recurring annual fee ('Recurring Annual Fee').

"Subject to [the] above, the current applicable Recurring Annual Fee is US $299 for web sites which do not offer adult content and/or services .... If Yahoo is unable to successfully charge your card or if the charge is refused, your site will be removed. IT IS THE APPLICANT'S RESPONSBILITY TO KEEP CREDIT CARD INFORMATION CURRENT."

Click for full text

Note: different rates apply for "Adult Content" sites.

End Excerpt From the Yahoo! site

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