In its fresh move to flex its marketing muscle, Yahoo Inc. has decided to sell most of the display advertising for England’s leading online social network, Bebo. The agreement between the firms would facilitate Yahoo’s efforts to encourage advertising revenue from other Internet sites besides its own and bail out of a financial crunch that has shattered its stock and shaken up its management. The exclusive partnership with Bebo to manage display advertising on the social networking Web site in Britain and Ireland has provided Yahoo a platform to access to more than 11 million sought-after users.
The agreement also concerned Yahoo integrating Yahoo Answers into the Bebo site and providing a new Bebo toolbar, which will allow users to monitor their social network when they are not on the site. About 75 per cent of the UK’s Internet users visit Bebo, particularly 13 to 24-year-olds. Bebo was established in January 2005.
Speaking over the deal, Toby Coppel, managing director of Yahoo Europe, said, ‘This exclusive partnership is the next step of our ongoing strategy to build the largest and most effective online advertising network’.
Financial arrangements of the deal have not been disclosed yet.
