Yahoo! Rolls Out Native Ads To Boost Ad Revenue

Yahoo! announced a new advertising format it called Yahoo! Stream Ads, its own version of native ads, in an effort reverse its declining ad revenue.

Yahoo! Stream ads will work within Yahoo! News Stream, which Yahoo! launched in February.  The ads will be sponsored posts that show up in a stream of content including the news stories in the new Yahoo mobile app.

Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer, who once led user experience for Google search, said the new ads will be similar to search results where relevant ads are displayed with content. “Like with web search, users appreciate complementary, unobtrusive advertising, and we’re committed to delivering just that,” she said, in a blog post. “Advertising can, and should, enhance content discovery in a seamless and effective manner.”

Yahoo! is hoping to reverse its declining display ad revenue.  The company lost its top spot as one of the biggest seller of display ads to Facebook and Google in 2011. In the first quarter, Yahoo’s display ad business fell 11 percent, to $455 million, compared with a year ago, even as total display advertising increased 18.1 percent to $17.7 billion in the United States, according to eMarketer.

In addition to stream ads, Yahoo also announced the addition of the “Billboard” ad to its homepage. The Yahoo Billboard will reach everyone that visits the Yahoo.com homepage and will allow users to click on the ad to get more information.