News Corp. Targets Online Audiences In Japan [forbes.com]

News Corp. has set up an online ad department within its Japanese unit, which will serve as an agent to sell advertisements online. The new venture, which starts its operations in September, will buy advertising space from various Web site operators that have trouble selling on their own and will offer those virtual billboards to interested advertisers, the English-language Nikkei News's Tuesday morning edition reported. According to News Corp.'s online business model, advertisers get better results because their advertisements are placed on appropriate Web sites for their target audience, consumers of their products and services.

I wonder how much of a threat this will be to the established ad networks in Japan. This will be a fun one to follow.