When Yahoo finally switches on the new search-advertising software code-named Project Panama this summer, users of its search engine will hardly notice a difference. But if Yahoo's project was worth the two years and tens of millions of dollars it cost  far more money and time than it expected  users will find the text ads adjacent to the main search results just a little more interesting, luring them to click on those ads a little more often.
Those clicks should immediately turn into a lot more cash for Yahoo. It will not say how much. But Jordan Rohan, an analyst for RBC Capital Markets, estimates that if the strategy works, Yahoo will increase search-advertising revenue at least 20 percent right away  about $125 million in the fourth quarter of this year and $600 million next year.