Yahoo! Japan Advertising: An Introduction to Search Advertising In Japan

When it comes to online advertising, Yahoo Ads is a major player in the Japanese market. Yahoo! Japan has its own search engine and offers both search and display advertising services. If you're looking to advertise in Japan, Yahoo! should be one of your top choices. In this article, we'll introduce you to the basics of Yahoo! Japan Search advertising and give you overview of everything you should know before running campaigns on Yahoo! Japan.

Yahoo! Japan Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform that allows advertisers to bid on keywords on Yahoo's search engine and other websites in the Yahoo! Japan network. It's important to note early on in this article, that this ad platform is not connected or related to other Yahoo platforms in countries outside of Japan.

This article is written for digital marketers already familiar with advertising online and are at least have moderate knowledge of search engine advertising. The article will be broken up into 3 main parts covering:

• Search Advertising Similarities Between Google Ads & Yahoo! Japan‍
• Strengths Of Advertising On Yahoo! Japan
• 5 Things To Consider When Launching Advertising Campaigns On Yahoo! Japan
  

Search Advertising Similarities Between Google Ads & Yahoo! Japan‍

The nice thing about Yahoo's ad platform is that in many ways it resembles Google Ads and is basically a clunkier version of the old AdWords user interface. Since you're probably already familiar with Google Search Ads, let's establish some of the core similarities between Yahoo & Google.

• Auction system: You'll need to bid on keywords to have your ad appear next to the search results. The amount you bid will determine where your ad appears on the page and factors like quality score are also important for your ad rank.
• Campaign Structure: The approach to campaign structuring is the same. You'll have ad groups nested in your campaigns containing clusters of keywords and relevant ad text as well. 
• Targeting: Yahoo also allows for targeting via keyword, interests, geography, demographic, device, and more.
• Ad Extensions:  You can use ad extensions to give your ads more real estate on the page and provide additional information about your business.
• Ad Format: Expanded text ads and responsive search ads are both available and resemble Google.
• Bid Adjustments: Bid adjustments can be made with respect to dimensions such as device, time of day and more.
• Bulk Editor Desktop Application: Yahoo! Japan also offers a bulk editor application. This is extremely helpful if you're working with large sets of campaigns, ad groups, keywords etc. so definitely check it out.

Here is a screenshot of Yahoo's user interface to help you visualize things:

Strengths Of Advertising On Yahoo! Japan

Now that we've established some of the key similarities, let's move on to some of the advantages or strengths of advertising on Yahoo Japan.

• Advertise to users that Google can't reach
• Potential to find better cost efficiency in terms of performance
• Access to Yahoo's first-party data‍ for targeting

Advertise to users that Google can't reach

Search engine users are very loyal and typically just use a single search engine. Although Yahoo only has around a third of the Japanese search engine market, this is a significant amount of users who you would otherwise be unable to reach through just Google Search ads. 

Potential to find better cost efficiency in terms of performance

Another potential advantage is that you may be able to achieve a higher ROI or lower CPA relative to advertising on Google. This is because the competition is not as fierce and you may be able to get your ads in front of users at a lower CPC while maintaining a similar level of quality in website traffic.

Access to Yahoo's first-party data for targeting

Yahoo Japan has a ton of first-party data that they've collected from users over the years. This data is extremely valuable and very specific to the Japanaese market. As a result, this data can  help you improve your search ad targeting with data Yahoo has from the web properties it owns that are very local to the Japanese market. Yahoo's valuable first-party data can be leveraged to target users based on interests, demographics, and past search behavior.

Things To Consider When Launching Advertising Campaigns On Yahoo! Japan

Although, the points above highlight a lot of commonality between Yahoo & Google it's also important to highlight that advertising on these platforms can be quite different. Below are some key things you need to be conscious of when running campaigns on Yahoo:

• Geographic limitations
• Lower search volume compared to Google
• Demographics of Yahoo! Japan Users
• Syntax of Japanese search queries
• Tag deployment

Geographic Limitations

Yahoo! Japan's ad platform, as the name suggests, is only for targeting users in Japan. You will not be able to advertise outside of Japan on this platform.

Lower Search Volume Compared to Google

Yahoo search engine market share is lower than Google at about 30% to 35% of market share in Japan. Make sure to take this into account when planning your budget and goals.

Demographics Of Yahoo! Japan Users

Although Yahoo does have a fairly even split between male and female users, their demographics tend to skew older with about 60% of their users being over the age of 35. The image below is from Yahoo's English media guide and shows more detail on demographics of Yahoo users (excuse the awkward English):

Syntax of Japanese Search Queries‍

Japanese search queries often include a mix of kanji,  hiragana, and katakana characters. The same word or idea can also be expressed through each of these 3 writing systems so you'll need to keep this in mind when setting up keyword targeting and writing ad text. Do not use a translator, you need to have your ad text and keyword targeting done properly with native / fluent Japanese speakers. This is not specific to Yahoo and is an important point for all advertising in Japan.

Tag Deployment

When it comes to tag deployment, you'll need to deploy at least 3 tags on your website in order for your Yahoo Japan ads to run properly. There is Yahoo's General Site Tag, Conversion Tracking Tag, and the Retargeting Tag. These tags need to be placed properly so you can properly measure performance and build retargeting audiences. If you are advertising on Yahoo Display, you'll need to deploy additional tags on top of this. The only currency available in the platform is Japanese Yen so keep this in mind when it comes to tag set up as well as reporting, bidding, and billing.

Concluding Thoughts

Now that you know the basics of advertising on Yahoo! Japan, you can get started creating your campaign. If you need help, we recommend working with a Japanese marketing agency that specializes in search engine marketing like Digital Primate. We have a team of Japanese search engine marketing experts that can help you navigate the nuances of this unique market and make sure your campaigns are successful. Contact us today to get started!

Yahoo! Japan is a great way to reach Japanese users and grow your business. With these tips, you should be well on your way to creating a successful campaign