Yahoo, which late last year made an investment in the ad media exchange company Right Media, last night announced it has bought the rest, and for quite a price: $680 million. Given the Doubleclick news, this is not surprising.
FM uses Right Media and we’ve started to see traction with the service. From Terry Semel’s blog post (I know, that sounds a bit funny doesn’t it?):
We hope to revolutionize the way ads are bought and sold on the Internet and, in turn, drive more value for advertisers, publishers, and partners.
As new forms of content continue to increase on the Web, so do the opportunities for advertisers to get their message across. This growing inventory is driving a significant transition in the online ad world, with third-party ad networks and exchanges gaining share of the total online ad dollars….
Terry then takes a non-too-subtle jab at Google:
…We think supply and demand should be regulated by the marketplace, not a closed platform. Right Media provides a democratic model that empowers advertisers with all of these benefits. We think our open approach is a clear differentiator from others in the industry and will provide significant benefits to publishers and advertisers.