Technical issues are often easier to repair than the damage done to a company’s reputation in the aftermath of such problems. Just ask Dell.

And while it looks like Yahoo has finally resolved the technical problems that have plagued its ad system for more than a week, the company now has some image hurdles to overcome.

The technical problems, caused by a systems upgrade to Yahoo’s core database, left some search marketers unable to manage their campaigns. Although most ads continued to run during the problems, some advertisers found that their credit cards and bank accounts were being charged continuously for amounts several times over the budget they had set.

Yahoo plans to address compensation for advertisers who were unable to manage their accounts on a case-by-case basis.

On August 28, a week after the problems started, Yahoo’s President of Search, Ted Meisel, emailed paid search clients to let tem know the problem was almost completely repaired. He noted that Yahoo was hopeful any additional service interruptions would be minor as the company continued to fine-tune its systems.

Prior to that communiqué, most advertisers claim that Yahoo made no attempt to contact them regarding the ongoing problems or to respond to calls for answers.

Many noted that the timing of this problem could hurt Yahoo, since rival Microsoft is preparing to launch of its own paid search program.

Let me know how this impacts you. lisap@revenuetoday.com