Yahoo’s Getting Personal With New Ad Tool
It seems that we are starting to see something new brewing in Yahoo’s cauldron after Jerry Yang, co-founder of Yahoo, replaced Terry Semel as the new CEO. Yahoo has just launched a new display advertising tool known as SmartAds today. The new platform allows marketers to modify ads according to the Internet surfer’s characteristics, such as online activities, location, age, and gender. The new product allows customized ads to be created in real time.
"For instance, instead of just seeing a generic ad for a Toyota Prius, a woman in San Francisco who conducts research on hybrid cars on Yahoo Autos could be served an ad for a local San Francisco dealer, along with information on the types of Priuses in stock and their purchase price. The ad, which is configured on the fly, could also feature a background color targeted for women in her age range, as well as a Golden Gate Bridge logo."
For now, only the network of sites under Yahoo’s management will show the ads. Eventually, they will start to appear on the sites of a few of Yahoo’s partners, including eBay, Comcast, and several newspapers.
Yahoo agreed to acquire Right Media and plans to use Right Media’s advertising network to promote SmartAds. The move may help to offset slowing growth and will give the leader in online display advertising a competitive advantage in the industry. Nonetheless, Yahoo’s rivals have some tricks of their own. Google will be buying out DoubleClick, an online ad company, whereas Microsoft has agreed to acuire Aquantive. As the stakes get raised higher and higher, things can only get more interesting. Whose move is next?
Yahoo agreed to acquire Right Media and plans to use Right Media’s advertising network to promote SmartAds. The move may help to offset slowing growth and will give the leader in online display advertising a competitive advantage in the industry. Nonetheless, Yahoo’s rivals have some tricks of their own. Google will be buying out DoubleClick, an online ad company, whereas Microsoft has agreed to acuire Aquantive. As the stakes get raised higher and higher, things can only get more interesting. Whose move is next?
