Yahoo! commits to its strategy

Yahoo! is joining the Right Media Exchange, allowing advertisers to bid on its non-premium banner or display ad inventory, rather than having to go through ad agencies or networks. Cnet reports that the exchange has more than 11,000 buyers and sellers. Since Yahoo! is really strong in display advertising (albeit not yet in Belgium), this is great news for brand marketeers.

According to the WSJ, Mr. Semel told analysts on Tuesday that Yahoo! will be "laser focused" on improving its search-ad revenue generation, widening its lead in display advertising and seizing opportunities in the fast-growing areas of video, mobile access to Internet services and social media such as photo sharing. Meanwhile, following mobile-ad announcements by Yahoo! and Microsoft, Google was reportedly caught testing cell phone ads, but no details of a clear strategy on its part are known.