This isn’t the first we’ve seen Google testing advertising methods on image search. Before, they were trying image ads as Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Roundtable recalls.

The appeal of the image ads from Google and the advertisers’ standpoints would obviously be a more camouflaged feel, with people naturally expecting to find images in an image search. This would no doubt draw plenty of criticism about paid link disclosure, however. I’m sure Google would mark them as sponsored, but that wouldn’t stop the Google-bashing from commencing. They still get it over their marked sponsored results on regular searches.

It appears that they may have abandoned the image ad idea anyway in favor of the above text approach. I have personally not come across any ads yet in my own image searches, and I have to wonder when Google will move either advertising strategy out of the testing phase and into regular practice. How many of you are seeing image search ads right now?

"I'm the guy who's telling you the way it is."
-- Chili Palmer in Get Shorty

Michael Mattis is the guy telling Yahoo’s search marketers the way it is. It’s time for text descriptions to get short in a big way.

Mattis reminded users of the Panama search ad system of the change on the Yahoo Search Marketing blog. If descriptions run longer than 70 characters, they will be truncated faster than you can say "click-through."

"The optional 190-character long descriptions may still be displayed on some of our distribution partners’ sites," Mattis said in his post.

Yahoo’s change brings its search ads in line with Google’s. Google has long enforced a short character limit on text ads appearing through its AdWords program.

In April 2007, Mattis wrote about the forthcoming change in description length. "We’re doing this (to quote myself) because ‘we’ve found that ads written more concisely give users a better experience and perform better for advertisers’."