Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Leaking Oil?

The spin Yahoo is attaching to its purchase of BlueLithium puzzles me. My expectation was that BL's primary value was as a nice extension to the RightMedia exchange and YPN (Yahoo Publisher Network), with a baseline price established by the Tacoda sale to AOL. But the release yesterday emphasized that BL extends Yahoo's "...ability to deliver powerful data analytics, advanced targeting and innovative media buying strategies to our customers," i.e. behavioral targeting. All good, but wasn't SmartAds supposed to do this?

So I have to ask:
  • If you're an advertiser, does BlueLithium replace SmartAds, or will you be presented 2 BT platforms when Yahoo comes calling?
  • If you're a Yahoo shareholder, does this move make sense or smack of desperation at the halfway point of the 100-day turnaround?

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