In May, we reported that Yahoo stopped enabling signs ups and enrollments for the Yahoo Ambassador Program. The Ambassador program is basically a higher level of support for the Yahoo Search Marketing product and service.
Today, I noticed a WebmasterWorld thread that reports Yahoo is fully dropping the Ambassador program, even for those already enrolled. The program is reportedly closing down on September 30th.
WebmasterWorld senior member, Philosopher received the email notification from Yahoo. He said,:
I just received an email stating that the entire Ambassador program will be terminated as of September 30th.I wonder what the bigger meaning of this is.
Current Ambassadors will be able to continue displaying the Ambassador logo, but that's pretty much it.
So why can Ambassadors continue to display their Ambassador logo if there is no such program anymore? Now that I don't understand. In fact, you can still see some ambassador confirmation pages working, I guess this means they will continue to work after September 30th. The Ambassador FAQs are still live, but the main page is redirects elsewhere.
In any event, we all know Yahoo is struggling to compete with AdWords. Maybe this is just another step in the direction of outsourcing paid search to Google?
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
Update: PPC Hero has text of the email available:
The Yahoo! Ambassador program was specifically developed to help marketers drive sales leads to their clients. For the last four years, Yahoo! has made an effort to enhance the program to provide the greatest added value to our users. After a thorough evaluation of the program, we have decided to discontinue the program. The Ambassador Program, except for the limited use of the Ambassador Logo as noted below, shall be terminated as of September 30, 2008.
