Yahoo and Google tussle over who thought of small biz search scheme first

Tim Burrowes

April 28, 2009 11:52

Yahoo’s boss of search marketing has suggested that last week’s “stimulus package” for small businesses announced by Google was a copycat effort.

The comment came during this morning’s launch of Yahoo Search Marketing’s Big Bang initiative. The company is targeting Australia’s 160,000 small businesses and offering each of them a free three month search marketing package worth $150.

The move comes just five days after Google launched a similar project, which it described as a “small business stimulus package“. In that case, the packages are worth $75.

At the Yahoo Search Marketing event today, Mumbrella asked MD Willie Pang if the move was a response to Google’s project. Suggesting that Yahoo’s plans had been on the cards for some time, he said: “I wonder whether theirs was a response to our promotion.”

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.

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1 COMMENTS

Kris Olin 29 Apr 09

This is great! The big guys are competing against each other and…we win!

Here the number to call Yahoo if you want to take part in their “Big Bang” campaign: 1800 007 577. And here’s Google’s URL for their offer: https://services.google.com/fb/forms/stimulusoffer/ This offer expires 30th June. Yahoo said that they will be more flexible with their expiry dates.

I hope Yahoo’s approach to search marketing is a bit more user friendly than Google’s AdWords.

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