After a couple of weeks filled with issues, poor industry responses and bad PR, Yahoo! has ebbed the negative trend to release their long awaited Panama Advertising Platform upgrade ahead of schedule.

Yahoo!’s “Panama” release has been talked about for what seems like an eternity and with early company statements suggesting a Q4 2006 release, and then a Q1 2007 release, finally it’s here for us to enjoy.

So what’s on offer and what’s still to come?

• Far more user friendly, professional and graphical interface.
• While bugs are still evident, Yahoo! suggests they equipped to deploy fixes faster.
• Apparently ad approvals will be much quicker
• Dayparting is still absent from Panama, but scheduling has been implemented.
• Budgeting and forecasting is now presented in a great dynamic AJAX interface.
• Great geo-targeting capabilities which have been long overdue.
• The expected “Quality Index” ranking factor won’t be fully implemented until Q1 2007 but index scores are being displayed in preparation.
• Like Google, it appears the platform API will soon incur a fee for usage.
• Development is under way for simplified expansion of the Yahoo Search Marketing program to include video, mobile and other new initiatives.

All in all, the platform looks and functions really well, and will make campaign management far more enjoyable for Yahoo! advertisers. While many of the features are merely catch ups to Google’s AdWords platform, other initiatives set some trends for the future.

This release is not only a welcome improvement for the many current Yahoo! Search Marketing users, but also warmly received by Yahoo! shareholders who have surely been sweating their investments over the last few weeks.

Well done Yahoo! for leveling the playing field

Invites to use the new system begin next week. To get involved early, submit a request via this online form.