I continue to follow the different ad platforms from the major search engine companies. I'm still shocked that Yahoo and Microsoft were not able to launch a better ad platform after pooring milllions of dollars into development. Both companies understand usability, but it seems that they have ignored usability and speed in the new ad platforms.
Here's my top list of ad platforms:
1. Google Adwords - by far the best plaform. Improvements are made monthly and Google continue to impress me.
2. Ask Paid listings - I've only just logged into this. It looks good, but lacks quite a few features
3. Adbrite - interesting solution.
4. Text-link-ads - another interesting solution
5. Yahoo Search Marketing - Better than the old Overture platform, but it failed to reach my expectations.
6. Microsoft Adcenter - Microsoft - What were you thinking?
After reviewing these platforms, I'm confident that it will take a few years before the other players catch up to Google.