Yahoo to Launch Blog Ad Network
Long-awaited competitor to Google AdSense to launch tomorrow. “Yahoo is planning to launch on Wednesday an ad network for small Web publishers intended to strengthen its hand against rival Google, a source familiar with the plan told CNET News.com. The service will undoubtedly turn up the heat in Yahoo and Google’s ongoing rivalry to dominate Web search. It will also help Yahoo’s push to expand its advertising reach to small and medium-size publishers.
“Laying the groundwork in this area earlier this year, Yahoo released Y!Q, code that analyzes the text of a Web page and shows search results based on its content. Publishers can add the code to their Web pages to automatically generate a list of related links. Tapping small publishers offers a promising growth path, given Google’s earlier efforts in this niche.
“In June 2003, Google expanded its ad services for large publishers, dubbed AdSense, adding a self-serve, automated product specifically aimed at small sites. As opposed to search-related ads, which are triggered by keywords entered into its search engine query bar, AdSense ads are targeted to the content of a page and its meaning. For example, a news story about a soccer match might display a sponsored link for soccer gear.