With all of Yahoo’s management changes, it’s no wonder there’s been speculation and reports that it would throw in the towel on competing with Google in ad tech. Right Media, Yahoo’s early play in the world of programmatic ad buying, was said to be for sale. as recently as March
Yahoo’s new message: Forget about it.
The company brought out top execs to drive home the message that new CEO Marissa Mayer is committed to keeping Right Media and devoting the resources and attention it needs to offer a credible alternative to the ad tech juggernaut Google’s built with DoubleClick and emerging players like AppNexus, The Rubicon Project and others.
“We’ve been working a lot with Marissa since she joined,” said Scott Burke, svp of advertising and data platforms, in an interview. “One thing that’s clear for us as we work is her level of commitment in investing in and being committed to the display platforms at Yahoo.” Later he added the area is “fundamental” to Yahoo’s success.
Yahoo said as much in a blog post that came out today. Its public relations team made sure the message was loud and clear by requesting interviews with reporters covering the industry. Burke spoke with Brian Silver, the executive who took over Right Media in January.
The move is in many ways unsurprising. While Mayer is widely thought to want to concentrate on rebuilding Yahoo’s Web products pipeline, she’s well-aware that the company’s greatest strengths still lie in its display advertising business. The question of whether it could cleave off Right Media, which counts on Yahoo as an “anchor tenant” for a large chunk of its inventory, was an open one if it wanted to remain committed to display as the cornerstone of its business. Moreover, former Admeld CEO Michael Barrett has elected to stay with the company in the aftermath of Mayer taking the reins. It would figure he’d push for an ad strategy that committed Yahoo to exchange buying.
Silver and Burke touted several recent moves Right Media has made to improve its exchange with added brand safety and targeting features. Right Media, while an early innovator in the field, is thought by many in the industry to lag far behind what DoubleClick is doing. The key differentiator, both execs said, is Yahoo wants to move Right Media to being a “premium” exchange. Of course, premium is in the eye of the beholder. For their part, Silver and Burke believe all Yahoo inventory, and that from partners like AOL, is “premium.”
“From an advertiser perspective, it’s sought-after named inventory they want their brand associated with,” he said.
Whether Yahoo can keep up in the area remains to be seen. Silver and Burke freely admitted the common knock on Yahoo is it tends to lack focus. That won’t be the case, they promised.
“It’s not directly a question of how much invest,” Burke said. “It’s a focus question.”
Image via Shutterstock
-
How publishers are handling returns to the office going into 2022
Here are the latest updates to media companies’ return to office plans. Some have already started bringing people in, while others are leaving timelines open-ended, after setting dates earlier this year.
-
‘This is scary stuff’: Cookie compliance efforts continue to fall short even three years after GDPR
Study finds GDPR-violations are rampant as user consent is often ignored.
-
Member ExclusiveDigiday+ Research: A majority of publishers don’t want to go back to full-time office work
With vaccination rates having leveled off and the omicron variant rising, optimism about office returns has given way to a more pessimistic outlook.
-
SponsoredWhat marketers are getting wrong about TV advertising (and how to get it right)
The explosion of new streaming platforms has led to a curious phenomenon in marketing, resulting in about a million think pieces trumpeting new opportunities in TV advertising. And yes, there is a huge opportunity waiting for brands when it comes to both linear and OTT advertising. But most of this well-intentioned (if overly excited) guidance […]
-
‘It’s too early to sell’: Why Axios is set on investing in internal growth, versus pursuing M&A in 2022
In 2022, Axios will focus on building its local media, subscription and SaaS licensing businesses to keep up the trend of 40% YoY revenue growth.
-
‘Catalyst for growth’: GroupM’s Brian Wieser bumps up his 2021 and 2022 global and U.S. ad forecasts
The latest global ad revenue forecast from WPP’s GroupM is out — and if it’s accurate, media is going to have a pretty great 2022 with almost 10 percent growth.
