Kevin Newcomb reports at ClickZ that Yahoo has begun an effort to provide more advanced tools for choosing keywords in an effort to make search marketing more appealing to brand marketers and other traditional marketers.

Two separate tools, Buzz Index and Search Share of Voice, have been in beta testing for the past two months with 10 to 15 of Yahoo!'s top advertisers and agency partners. Buzz Index is a keyword discovery tool with attached demographic data contributed by volunteers and Search Share of Voice is a metric analogous to the traditional marketing measurement. Yahoo expects to make these tools available to a broader base of advertisers in the very near future.

"Marketers have tended to think of search as click-to-sale. That's beginning to change as more and more brand advertisers are beginning to recognize the power of search for things like message association and engagement," said Jason Lehmbeck, director of strategic alliances at Yahoo! Search Marketing.

Lehmbeck goes on to say, "People tend to get boxed in with search, because they think of it as just a title and description. They should be thinking of it more as a teaser to draw their audience into their marketing process. Search can be used to extend the value and reach of ideas, content, and sponsorships."

While Yahoo's current intent is to draw in larger brand advertisers or traditional advertising people still not acquainted with search, releasing these tools to a broader range of advertisers is sure to help small businesses better compete in this ever expanding marketplace. Now that MSN has joined the game of paid search advertising, the competition to have the best paid advertising program will continue to evolve bigger and better tools, helping advertisers get the most out of their campaigns.