Yahoo Contextual Ads Now in Adobe PDFs
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Written By Sepideh Saremi | November 29, 2007 | Share This
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CNET reports Yahoo and Adobe have teamed up to serve Yahoo contextual ads in Adobe PDFs, extending Yahoo’s PPC model and distribution. Similar to Gmail, they will pick up the content of the PDF to determine relevant ads. From CNET:
The text advertisements appear in a panel to the right of the content in the PDF and are subject matter matched using keywords and analysis of associated concepts. The ads are dynamic, meaning different ads can pop up at different times and clicking on an ad takes you to the advertiser Web site.
TechCrunch wonders if this service will be popular, but acknowledges opportunity for (further) e-book monetization:
On one hand contextual advertising in PDFs probably falls into the “why didn’t they think of that before” category, but on the other hand there’s probably a reason this is a new concept, because I can’t see there being a stampede of people wanting to use the service. It will be interesting to see however whether the ads convert, and it may provide an additional revenue stream for ebook sellers and similar online users and creators who regularly provide PDF downloads to visitors.
Personally I think the ads seem ugly and intrusive (somewhat like the feeling of clicking on a link only to find it’s a PDF - so maybe this partnership makes perfect sense), but they’ll probably just take some getting used to. I wonder, too, if the way that people interact with PDFs - lots of scrolling and clicking within the document - will mean a higher percentage of invalid clicks? Here’s a screenshot:
Wired is among the sites that has signed on. According to Computer World, the new system has some limitations (second paragraph):
Melissa Webster, program vice president of content and digital media technologies at Framingham, Mass.-based IDC, said the new service should prove to be a “risk-free” way for publishers to tap into Yahoo’s extensive ad inventory and partner network. She said the value of dynamic ads and content on the Web is key, since users tend to tune out the data when it is displayed a second time.
Webster noted that dynamic advertising requires that readers maintain an Internet connection and that publishers will likely want significant control over which advertisements are displayed on their sites. “They may not want competitor ads. The current beta release doesn’t do that,” said Webster.
Topics: Advertising: Contextual, Advertising: Distribution, SEM: Paid Search, Search: Innovations, Yahoo! |