(30 April 2007 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Internet major Yahoo! has acquireD Right Media which created the Right Media Exchange.

Yahoo! says that the acquisition will build upon its position in online advertising and is a key step towards executing the company's long-term strategy to transform how online advertisers connect to and engage with their customers - both on and off the Yahoo! network. Under the terms of the agreement, which follows Yahoo!'s 20 per cent strategic investment in Right Media in October 2006,

Yahoo! will acquire the remaining equity interest in Right Media for approximately $680 million.

Yahoo! chairman and CEO Terry Semel says, "The acquisition of Right Media will further Yahoo!'s goal to create the industry's most open, accessible and vibrant advertising marketplace, which will help democratize the buying and selling of digitally enabled advertising.

"This acquisition is an important step in our long-term vision to build the industry's leading advertising and publisher ecosystem. We believe that Yahoo!'s open approach is a clear differentiator from others in the industry and provides significant benefits to advertisers, publishers and Yahoo! itself."

The Right Media Exchange is an emerging online advertising exchange, and as publishers increasingly turn to exchanges to monetize their ad inventory, this acquisition will help Yahoo! establish a strong position in this large, attractive and fast growing segment of the online ad market.

Right Media CEO and founder Michael Walrath says, "We share Yahoo!'s vision of a more empowered marketplace, where efficiency, transparency and accountability in online advertising become the norm. We are very excited by the prospect of becoming part of Yahoo!, the market leader in display advertising, as it looks to revolutionize the media buying and selling landscape."

Right Media's open exchange will facilitate a frictionless model where buyers have equal opportunity to engage with the largest, most valuable audiences and to extract the maximum value from their campaigns and sellers can access an enormous pool of advertisers and foster competition for their inventory to maximise revenue. Yahoo! will increase its participation in the Right Media Exchange both as a buyer and seller to help increase liquidity in the exchange while empowering publishers and advertisers to generate more value for themselves within this vibrant marketplace.

Advertisers will have greater inventory and audience options from Yahoo! and other participants in this exchange, as well as increased control and visibility into the buying process.

Publishers will be able to bundle their own ad inventory with Yahoo!'s inventory and the exchange's inventory - thereby boosting demand and generating the highest returns for each ad placement.

Ad networks will reap the same benefits as advertisers and publishers, and additionally, the exchange will benefit those ad networks with unique value propositions, giving them an opportunity to compete with the largest players, thanks to reduced friction and increased transparency.

For Yahoo!, this more open approach will allow the company to increase liquidity, allow advertisers to more efficiently ascertain the true value of display ad inventory, and generate greater returns for Yahoo!'s own display inventory. It will give Yahoo! a new channel and inventory for excess demand and provide an opportunity to derive more value from non-premium inventory.