Search advertising has built-in accountability, because the advertiser pays only for clickthroughs, not for impressions. (That's true for PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, not for PFP, or pay-for-position advertising.) But contextual search ads don't work well for products that require no research, like toothpaste. Consumer staple companies, accordingly, have avoided search advertising. Yahoo! is attempting to lure companies such as Pepsi and Purina toward its inventory of Web-page banners by building in a new level of accountability missing in traditional advertising. "Consumer Direct" is a new program implemented in partnership with ACNielsen Homescan, which measure consumer behavior as a result of extensive surveying and tracking. Unsurprisingly, considering that the studies are sponsored by Yahoo! results show sharp increases in sales after Internet-channel advertising.