12 February 2007

Yahoo! to provide mobile advertising services in eighteen nations.

Yahoo!, the internet media company and search engine, has announced that it has secured the signatures of top corporate advertisers to utilise its advertising system and run brand ads in eighteen countries via mobile telephony. Such a venture marks a major diversification beyond computers, which has long been the primary outlet of online marketing for the company.


Yahoo! said that the deal capitalises on its ability to provide web advertising to computer users and that the new medium of brand advertising would see it reach mobile phone users in eighteen countries around the world, including in Western Europe, South Asia and the Americas. Major advertisers who have signed up to the new scheme include Hilton's Embassy Suites, computer behemoth Intel, car manufacturer Nissan and soft-drink manufacturer Pepsi & Co, among various others.

A large majority if the top 100 US advertisers already utilise online marketing services provided by the California-based company. And by expanding into the mobile telephony market, Yahoo! hopes to help corporate advertisers run co-ordinated campaigns that reach both computer and phone audiences. Steve Boom, senior vice-president for mobile and broadband at Yahoo, spoke of the new initiative: "This is really about Yahoo! staking out its leadership in the emerging space on the mobile phone."

Yahoo! is the world's top provider of web display ads, such as online banners, which are commonly used for brand advertising. And such a move into mobile telephony advertising may see Yahoo! steal a march among rival internet companies such as Google Inc, which has seen Yahoo! fall behind in ad revenues within the overall market for web search. The company predicts that as most mobile phones in today's market now come with high-res colour screens and internet browsers, the mobile advertising market is on the brink of exploding. The scheme will see advertisements being run along the top of Yahoo!'s home page on the browser screens of mobile phones, and consumers can then either click on the ad to learn more about the offer or call the advertiser directly.

The new service will be available in the European countries of Britain, Ireland, Germany, Spain, France and Italy, while in the Americas, it will feature on mobile phones in the US, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. Yahoo! also hope to offer the advertising service in Asia-Pacific markets such as Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Yahoo! Japan Corp, its joint venture with Softbank Corp, has already been running mobile phone ads in Japan for several years - a market which ranks as one of the world's most advanced mobile technology centres.

Yahoo!'s latest move into the mobile market builds on an exclusive partner deal Yahoo! signed with Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone carrier, in November 2006 - a deal which saw corporate-branded advertisements in Britain. Yahoo! also introduced display ads in the United States in the same month, and the past year has seen the company launch several enhancements to its mobile services to make it faster and easier for users to search the web, check email, instant message or check on latest news, sports or financial information.

Yahoo!'s latest announcement comes just ahead of Europe's major annual mobile phone conference, to be held in Barcelona later this week.

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