Last October, Yahoo bought 20% of Right Media, which operates an online advertising exchange. Now the internet giant will pay about $680 million in cash and stock for the remainder. The acquisition will extend Yahoo"s ability to broker ad deals beyond its own Web properties. Right Media currently coordinates the trading of more than 4 billion ad impressions daily among 20,000 ad buyers and sellers. Yahoo"s ability to compete with Google in coming months will depend largely on its ability to increase the relevancy of its ads; access to Right Media"s inventory of ads and content may prove helpful.
"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. 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," wrote Yahoo CEO Terry Semel in a blog post.