That's a positive step for Yahoo. Their Right Media exchange actually has a good business model, both for itself and for publishers, in terms of auctioning off each impression amongst multiple ad networks. They just need a lot more volume.

I understand Yahoo's reasons and they make sense.

Still, this is sad. Yahoo has become more or less just like every other web site in trying to sell ads. And, I'm not certain that it's all Yahoo's management's fault. If Y has to cut deals such as this, how difficult is it for, say, newspaper web sites, to sell ads to national marketers? Tough sledding for everyone, in fact.

I think the message here is that success for a new web channel today is to target tighter on the audience, then tighter and tighter and then create a niche, all in mind with serving several firms who needs to reach that targeted niche. The waste of "mass media" ad buys is almost over. If anyone could have done it on the web, it would have been Yahoo.

Martin Sorrell is one of the smartest and strategically clever cookies out there in media land - you can be sure this deal benefits WPP and 24/7 Real media WAYYYYYY more than it benefits Y!.

Hey so they will see some more revenue and be able to access more advertisers - but it sure ain't going to change their strategy or management team in anyway and that IMHO is their fundamental problem.

[edited by: TinkyWinky at 2:22 pm (utc) on May 16, 2008]

Yahoo signed on to sell inventory from newspaper website. Now they are in the position of having Too much inventory and not enough advertisers. SO instead of over serving impressions and charging less they now can at least make something on those ads. Yahoo has always had a decent ad serving platform.