Yesterday, Yahoo sent out an email to their search advertisers that they have updated the Terms and Conditions of the service agreement.  If you are currently involved in a Yahoo! search marketing program, this is a “fine print” email that is not to be overlooked.According to other notable bloggers who are confirming this, Yahoo!’s change now allows them to OPTIMIZE your ad campaign without your approval; and whatever changes they make, good or bad, you are left paying for.  In the world of Pay Per Click marketing this nearly outrageous!  PPC is about control, expertise, and risk.  If you are successful at PPC, you can control your ad spend right down to a nickel.  Below is a snippet from the Terms and Conditions that states their revised “optimization” policy:

Sponsored Search 3. 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.

Many believe that these kind of campaign changes have been going on for some time, however little evidence has been found.  The basic premise to take from this is that Yahoo!, who has been known for unrefined algorithms and cumbersome PPC interfaces is now unilaterally changing the bids to your campaign.

Here is a full list of changes to their terms & services.