Yahoo in ad marketing deal with WPP as investors file new legal claims
17 May 2008
Mumbai: Yahoo Inc, which recently spurned a $47.5 billion unsolicited takeover bid from Microsoft Corporation, has entered into an advertising partnership deal with WPP Group that will let WPP buy ads on Yahoo's online ad exchange, the companies said.
Embattled Yahoo, which is facing a proxy battle led by activist investor Carl Icahn, said the deal would first involve WPP units GroupM and 24/7 Real Media.
Investors suing Yahoo over its rebuff of Microsoft's $47.5 billion buyout bid have, meanwhile, filed a new case that adds company co-founder David Filo as a defendant.
The lawsuit, filed in Delaware Chancery Court by two Detroit pension funds that hold Yahoo shares, is an amended version that adds Filo, who is not a director. The company itself is no longer a defendant.
As part of the deal, WPP advertising agencies would, through its 24/7 Real Media arm, develop a proprietary advertising media trading platform using Yahoo's Right Media exchange, the companies said in joint statement.
Yahoo acquired Right Media last year in a bid to expand sales of corporate online display advertisements.
WPP will also work with Yahoo to develop a WPP marketplace, that is expected to give WPP's ad agencies wider access to potential advertising space across the internet, as well as new cost-effective ads for clients.
The WPP-Yahoo marketplace, which will also be open to outside publishers, will help increase overall volume, the statement said.