Okay, people, nobody panic.  In all honesty, this isn’t a new development, and if you haven’t been affected by now, you’re probably in the clear.  Still, some info has been making the rounds that seems worth a mention, and said info is that Yahoo has given itself the power to play with search advertisers’ campaigns.

Yes, if you get into the fine print, you’ll discover that Yahoo’s terms and conditions document states, “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).”

Scary-sounding, eh?  It must be a rare business owner who’s comfortable giving this much control to a huge corporation within which just about anybody might decide to do something.

We should return to the timeline, though.  Even though a bunch of people believe the provision is new, Barry Schwartz actually first noticed it in June of 2008.  And since there haven’t been hundreds of reports of inappropriate fiddling (or even a single high-profile one), Yahoo and all of its employees seem to be keeping their thoughts about campaign adjustments to themselves.

Don’t get too freaked out if word of the situation reaches your ears, then.  And maybe, just maybe, keep an eye on any Yahoo campaigns to play it safe.

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