I've been looking all over the net for the much celebrated Yahoo Glitch which these idiots claim to have exploited to make zillions on Yahoo Search Marketing. And for the life of me I can't find it. I've found plenty of references to a Yahoo Glitch being responsible for blatant overcharging - one woman was slammed $41,000 and had to wait ten days to get it back - but there's nothing much about a glitch that makes you heaps of money on their sad Pay Per Click program.

One of the most recent posts concerning a Yahoo Glitch is this one from a WebmasterWorld Forum -

I have never been more mind-boggled by a change in the T&C's of a major corporation as I am by the recent change in YSM, which I shockingly have not seen reported in WebmasterWorld?

First, READ this:

"OPTIMIZATION. In the U.S. only, for those advertisers not bound by an Insertion Order, we may help you optimize your account(s). Accordingly, you expressly agree that we may also: (i) create ads, (ii) add and/or remove keywords, and/or (iii) optimize your account(s). We will notify you via email of such changes made to your account(s), and can also include a spreadsheet of such changes upon your written request. If you would like any of such changes reversed, please reply to such email within 14 days of the change(s), and we will make commercially reasonable efforts to reverse the change(s) you specifically identify. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you remain responsible for all changes made to your account(s), including all click charges incurred prior to any reversions being made. It is your responsibility to monitor your account(s) and to ensure that your account settings are consistent with your business objectives."

So let's summarize here. Yahoo now has the ability to ADD keywords, MODIFY ads and make overall optimization changes to your account, at any time, and it is YOUR responsibility to pay for the charges incurred by these changes.

As Andy Beal (MarketingPilgrim) commented, "Can you imagine if your investment adviser started buying stocks on your behalf or switched your portfolio from bonds to hedge funds?"

I am in SHOCK right now.

From what I can gather, the word on the (online marketing) street is that Yahoo is going down the tubes. They've lost further market share to Google for starters - 16.1% to Google's 64.1%. I guess the scuttling of the proposed deal with Google didn't help the bottom line either. They were set to rake in $800M on that deal alone. Anti-Trust anyone?

Aaron Wall of Seobook reckons Yahoo and the smaller search engines can work for some niche keywords. But he's adamant that you need to be on Google. Here's an interesting video he made called Pay Per Click 101 - there's some good stuff on there. It annoys the crap out of me the way his voice sounds like he's asking a question at the end of each sentence (like some Australians and they tell me the Brits are starting to talk like that too after watching "Neighbours" on television.) but the content is good.

Which brings me to the YahooCash4Idiots scam. That's right - scam. Scam, Scam, Scam. It's built around the premise that Yahoo Search Marketing has a glitch you can exploit to rake in the big bucks on Pay Per Click Marketing. And of course once you buy the frigging thing you discover it's just a re-hash of existing PPC marketing books. Here's what one PPC marketer on the Warrior Forum had to say about it -

there isn't a single thing in this book that anyone but a rank, green, just off the street newbie wouldn't already know. They make it sound like using misspelled words is some earth shattering discovery. That's really about as meaty as it gets. They talk about their 2 brilliant strategies all through the book. But when you get to that section, it turns out that the two strategies are using search and using the content network. But nowhere is there any "Yahoo Glitch" of any kind discussed. Just the stuff the rawest newbie probably already picked up in this forum.

So don't be fooled by the slick marketing. The Landing Page sucks you right in with all sorts of spurious claims -

By accident I discovered something that would skyrocket our profits even more...a secret Yahoo glitch that no one knows about or has access to. So profitable but at the same time so simple. It took us months to perfect, but now it's so ridiculously easy to use - even a complete idiot could do it.

Step this way complete idiot...

Look, there is only one place to go to learn how to use Adwords properly. And that's
Perry Marshall's "The Definitive Guide To Google Adwords". That is the bible of PPC. Perry Marshall's best-selling books on Google advertising are easily the most popular on the planet. Google it. He's quoted by USA Today, the Chicago Tribune and Entrepreneur Magazine and other journals.

Why pay $77 for a crappy rehash on stuff about Yahoo PPC when you can go to the source and get "The Definitive Guide to Google Adwords" by the King of PPC Perry Marshall for just $49?

Update: I notice they are flogging that YahooCash4idiots for $39 now. What does that tell you? I checked its refund rate on CB Engine recently and saw it was enormous. Seems quite a few happy campers haven't been particularly thrilled with the famous Yahoo Glitch.

Oh yeah. The first Perry Marshall book was "Ultimate Guide to Google Adwords" but the newest is "The Definitive Guide to Google Adwords" which includes sections on the Latest Developments - the notorious "Google Slap", Google's new Minimum Bids and Landing Page Quality Scores. BTW when you start your Google Adwords account be sure to use the new Website Optimizer tool. That's invaluable. Not sure if it's still in beta.

Malcolm Lambe is an Australian married to a French paediatrician and living in Paris with their two small children. He makes a living online writing about Internet Marketing and other stuff. He thinks Clickwank is just one giant affiliate fraud site busy taking money off gullible people who get conned into buying crap like "Water4gas", "Google Clicks Free" and "Enlarge Your P*nis".