Yahoo to purchase high ranking ad network

The wheeling and dealing continues as Yahoo becomes the latest Internet giant to purchase an advertising network.

by Helen Leggatt

bluelithium%20logo.gif With 120 million users in July this year, BlueLithium is ranked as the fifth largest advertising networking in the U.S. and the second largest in the U.K. Its clients include T-Mobile, General Motors and Blockbuster. The price being paid by Yahoo to acquire the network is reported to be $300 million in cash.

“BlueLithium’s products, technology and team will be an integral part of our drive to build the industry’s leading advertising and publishing network,” said Jerry Yang, Yahoo’s chief executive officer. BlueLithium uses ad space purchased from top publishers to run highly targeted and results-driven online campaigns for businesses.

Yahoo’s acquisition will considerably add to their current behavioral targeting capabilities. "Our ability to drive accelerated revenue growth will rise from our ability to give salespeople ... extensions of audiences and aggregated audiences," explained Todd Teresi, senior vice president of Yahoo Publisher Network. "That's the tool for No. 1 market share."

Tags: acquisition, advertising network, behavioral targeting, BlueLithium, Yahoo