Is “Panama” a real revolution?

I attended the Internet world last week, a lot more people attended compared to last year and despite a few quacks (like Canon being a key speaker but not bothering to come) and desillusions (really bad affiliate marketing sessions by Affiliate Future CEO), it was really good and really informative. Big subject this year were Paid Search of course and Email marketing. 

One of the session I was really passionate about was “Panama”, in Yahoo! ’s book it is the new paid search revolution but what is Panama really about?

The speaker was really good and passionate but to be honest with you I think “Panama” is far from being a revolution, this is only Yahoo! adapting to Google standards. I am not sure this will help them gain the market shares they lost. Considering Google has more than 80% of the paid search market in Europe, I was expecting a bit more from Yahoo! 

Before I go any further and for those who do not know, Panama is the new Yahoo! search platform. 10 years after the first platform was launched, it really needed an upgrade that is not only a facelift.  And in that sense Panama is succeeding in giving Yahoo! a real chance to compete with the Google beast.

The new platform is proposing killing features like, local PPC ads, geo targeted placements, dynamic positionning, improved reporting tools (much needed) and better organised customer service.

So why I am not talking about a revolution? Because I was expecting a lot more from Yahoo! than becoming a Google Jr. Being a pionneer in search, they felt at proposing something new.

Why should I choose as an advertiser, Yahoo! when everything they are now proposing is the same as Google offering?

Well maybe to go after the 20% I am not reaching with Google.

Don’t get me wrong, I do think Panama is a great platform, that will help us do better business with Yahoo! and start considering them as valuable as their main competitor. I just feel Panama is not a revolution and I am a bit disappointed by what I heard and saw.