Yahoo is launching an “integrated, nationwide, on and offline marketing campaign” to promote the “new Yahoo Search.” It emphasizes online display and radio advertising. Animated banners link to actual Yahoo Search results.  The online display campaign is promoting Search Assist and Shortcuts (vs. Google: “don’t get lost in the links”). The sample radio spot uses humor and emphasizes anti-virus protection. It also mentions Google by name.

Yahoo, Ask and Microsoft have all run past ad campaigns to try and eat into Google’s market share, almost entirely without success. The message in this campaign (from what I could tell) is that Yahoo is more efficient than Google: answers vs. links.

Despite increasing discomfort within the industry regarding Google’s size and power, there seems to be no indication from the public that they’re ready to abandon Google. In fact, Google outscored other engines in the 2008 American Consumer Satiisfaction Index.

With the right approach, however, there may be an opening and opportunity for Yahoo to gain some incremental usage.

Related Topics: Top News | Yahoo: Marketing | Yahoo: Shortcuts

About The Author: Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog Screenwerk, about SoLoMo issues and connecting the dots between online and offline. He also posts at Internet2Go, which is focused on the mobile Internet. Follow him @gsterling. See more articles by Greg Sterling