the fine print sucks.

1. Offer open to new Sponsored Search advertisers only. (A new advertiser is one who has not advertised with Yahoo! Search Marketing for the past 13 months.) Each account requires a nonrefundable $5 initial deposit. Advertisers signing up for Self Serve will receive a $75 credit into the account. Advertisers signing up for the Fast Track® service will receive $75 off the $199 service charge. In each case, initial credits are nonrefundable and will be applied to click charges. There is a minimum bid requirement of $0.10 per click-through. Limit one offer per customer, and one use per customer on a single account. Sellers of certain legally restricted products may require third-party certification at extra cost. Search listings subject to editorial review. Offer may not be combined with any other offers or discounts, separated, redeemed for cash, or transferred. Other terms and conditions may apply; see Advertiser Terms and Conditions when you sign up.

All I have to say is that the fine print sucks. So they say "free" $75, but in all reality, you're still paying $125 just to get your account setup. Google AdWords is free...why is Yahoo! charging so much just to sign up? No wonder Google recently took a 25% lead of all online advertising. It's just easier with Google.

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Matt Cutts

 

Ysm is just so far behind the other networks in every aspect, biggest being ease of use.

 

there are other yahoo offers floating around which if you dont do the quick signup (which they charge for)

you can get $50 with min deposit laid down.

 

ya, they are upgrading though, so hopefully it gets a lot better than this crap!