SUNNYVALE, Calif. & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) and WPP's (NASDAQ:WPPGY) GroupM, 24/7
Real Media and WPP Digital today announced a strategic partnership
that will enable WPP agencies to buy digital display advertising
across the Internet more efficiently than ever before. The partnership
will initially involve a collaboration between Yahoo! and WPP's GroupM
and 24/7 Real Media.
"More and more, we see the need for agencies and media and
technology companies to work together to create a new level of value,"
said Mark Read, WPP's Director of Strategy and CEO of WPP Digital. "We
are very pleased to have established this partnership with Yahoo!
which, enabled by our earlier acquisition of 24/7 Real Media, will
turn this vision into a reality."
As part of the agreement, WPP agencies, working through 24/7 Real
Media, will develop a proprietary media trading platform that connects
to Yahoo!'s Right Media Exchange. WPP agencies will work with 24/7
Real Media to integrate their proprietary targeting capabilities into
the platform and develop custom trading strategies, which can be
seamlessly executed via the Right Media Exchange on a highly targeted
and cost-effective basis.
"As marketers take new approaches to understand and engage
consumers, we are thrilled to partner with a powerhouse like WPP to
evolve and grow their digital practice with our next-generation
solutions," said Hilary Schneider, EVP of Global Partner Solutions for
Yahoo!. "We are committed to providing the technology, insights and
media expertise required to deliver the most relevant audiences across
the web and to power the seamless conversation with consumers that
drives greater brand awareness, consideration, intent and most
importantly - action."
WPP will also work with Yahoo! to develop a WPP marketplace,
giving WPP's agencies even greater access to inventory, visibility
across the market and insight into value. WPP intends to draw
inventory for the WPP marketplace from Yahoo!'s owned- and-affiliated
networks and 24/7's Global Web Alliance. The marketplace would also be
open to third-party publishers.
"This partnership with Yahoo! will give our agencies and, in turn,
our clients, an advantage in securing more relevant, high-quality
digital media inventory. And, it will be aggregated to our bespoke
needs, at the best value for our clients," said Irwin Gotlieb, CEO of
GroupM.
About WPP
WPP is a world leader in communications services. Through its
operating companies, the Group provides a comprehensive range of
advertising and marketing services to national, multinational and
global clients. For more information, visit www.wpp.com.
GroupM is WPP's media investment management arm - comprising
leading media agencies MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia, MindShare Worldwide
and MAXUS - which focuses on the intelligent application of volume and
scale in trading, innovation and quality of services.
24/7 Real Media, a member of WPP, is a leading global digital
marketing company which empowers advertisers and publishers to engage
their target audiences with greater precision, transparency and ROI.
Using its award winning ad serving, targeting, tracking and analytics
platform, powerful search marketing technology and global network of
specialized web sites, the company has turned the art of reaching
audiences across virtually any digital medium into a measurable
science.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most
trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on
powering its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and
developers by creating indispensable experiences built on trust.
Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more
information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties concerning Yahoo!'s strategic
partnership with WPP's GroupM, 24/7 Real Media and WPP Digital
(including without limitation the statements contained in the
quotations from management in this press release), as well as Yahoo!'s
strategic and operational plans. Actual events or results may differ
materially from those described in this press release due to a number
of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties
include, among others, the possibility that the expected or planned
implementations of the partnership described may be delayed, may not
ultimately be implemented, or if implemented may not be successful;
and that the anticipated benefits to Yahoo!, WPP's GroupM, 24/7 Real
Media and WPP Digital, marketers and consumers may not be realized.
More information about potential factors that could affect Yahoo!'s
business and financial results is included under the captions, "Risk
Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations," in the Company's Annual Report
on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, which are on file
with the SEC and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
Source: Yahoo! Inc.
