Why are so many non-US publishers being accepted to YPN?

September 15, 2005

Yesterday I mentioned that many non-US publishers are being accepted into YPN. I have since heard from many people, including some of those non-US publishers who were accepted, wondering why so many of them are being accepted into the beta when they don’t live in the US and cannot submit the required US address and tax information.

Well, the answer is quite simple
When anyone applies to be a part of the Yahoo Publisher Network beta team, they must use their official application form. And near the top of that page, in nice bold text, it says:

Participants of the program must have a valid U.S. Social Security or Tax ID number, and web site content that is predominantly in English and targeted at a U.S. user base.

So when a potential publisher submits all his or her site information to be considered for the beta, but does not have a US SSN or tax ID that would qualify for the program, it isn’t really YPN’s fault when they accept that application. By submitting that form, YPN is believing that person has actually read the page and meets the requirements it asks of anyone who applies for beta.

There is also a link on that page to Content Guidelines, for a listing of the types of sites Yahoo does not want their advertisements associated with. It would be interesting to see what the CTR on that link is from the application page… I have a sneaking suspicion that most skip over the entire top part of the page, and their eyes go right to the first box for entering their email address.

A drop down box on that page with a Yes/No question of “Do you have a US SSN or Tax ID?” would solve a lot of the problems. Or maybe a second international application is in order, so YPN could begin drawing applications from that when it starts offering YPN outside of the US.

And next time you hear a non-US publisher grumbling that they were accepted and can’t use it, remember that the only reason they were accepted is because they didn’t read the instructions in the first place

Posted in Yahoo! Publisher Network