Loren at SEJ posted Yahoo Publisher Network Expanding This Spring and listed out all the changes discussed on a phone call with the YPN team. I got the phone call also, I was just under the impression that this was not for the public, but I was wrong. So here is some of what you can expect from YPN in early spring.
1. Improvements in Relevance : The ads that are shown by YPN are based upon what Yahoo calls its ‘matching expert’s. These ‘experts’ will be expanded to include :
* Contextual Engine : Targeting based upon the content of the page
* Ad Targeting : Publishers can “tag” their own site by defining their ad targeting category in the YPN admin
* User Data : Behavioral targeting or profiling (geographic & demographic)
2. Wire Service : Offering publishers payment via direct deposit this Spring
3. Expanding Invitations : Continuing on reviewing and approving thousands of high quality web publishers
4. International Rollout : Global expansion beyond the United States to English and non-English speaking countries
5. Yahoo Search Box : Publishers can add Yahoo Search to their site which will pay publishers a percentage of sponsored search revenue
6. Integration into Yahoo Answers : Yahoo may be offering its registered users the ability to earn revenue or points for contributing to Yahoo Answers and other user generated content offerings.
Maybe YPN is trying to bring back the honeymoon? :)
I also started a thread about this yesterday at DigitalPoint Forums and it seems most YPN publishers are happy with this announcement.