Yahoo rolls out new ad target schemes

Yahoo is rolling out some new ad targeting refinements, including enhanced search retargeting for display ads and ads that are dynamically generated based on user activities on advertiser Web sites.

The offerings improve on targeting capabilities the firm has enabled for years.

The former targeting feature allows advertisers to capture user interest information from search queries and use that information to generate display ads that can appear anywhere on the Yahoo network.

Advertisers can also combine Yahoo's standard behavioral ad tools with data drawn from advertiser sites for highly-customized ad retargeting. In an example shared by Yahoo, people viewing a specific flight offer on an airline Web site can later be served an ad offer for the same flight when they return to pages on the Yahoo network.

Yahoo has offered display ad retargeting based on recent search activity since 2005 through a product it called Impulse when it launched.

Additionally, Yahoo is rolling out some new targeting options for search campaigns and ads that appear in Content Match, Yahoo's network of partner sites.

Beginning in March, marketers will be able to specify demographic preferences as well as a time of day and day of the week to run ads when setting up their campaigns. They'll also be able to vary bids for different audience segments.