Mark your calendar for Mediaweek, October 29-30 in New York City. We’ll unpack the biggest shifts shaping the future of media—from tv to retail media to tech—and how marketers can prep to stay ahead. Register with early-bird rates before sale ends!
After a year of change for the media and ad-tech company, Yahoo returned to NewFronts this year with a concert from Chance the Rapper.
The event was light on news and more of a celebration thrown for Yahoo’s partners. The Grammy-winning artist regaled the crowd with hits like “No Problem” and “I’m the One,” a Justin Bieber song featuring Chance.
Chance revealed he was a user of aughts-product Yahoo Messenger, with the screen name 2hot4you (though Adweek didn’t get a debrief on the exact spelling).
Yahoo skipped the NewFronts last year but had a slot on the 2021 calendar as Verizon Media. Private equity firm Apollo bought Yahoo from Verizon in 2021.
Yahoo’s advertising business has had a busy year. In late 2022, it entered into a deal with content recommendation firm Taboola, whereby Yahoo would own an approximately 25% stake in the company. Meanwhile, Taboola will power Yahoo’s native advertising for 30 years. Yahoo paid no cash in the transaction, Adweek exclusively reported.
The deal, which the companies said would generate $1 billion in annual revenue, coincided with Yahoo shutting down its own content recommendation service, Gemini. Yahoo also shut down its supply-side platform earlier this year, laying off 20% of its staff in favor of focusing on its demand-side platform and blue-chip advertisers.
Last week, Yahoo inked two deals for its advertising and media businesses, respectively. In addition to its ad-tech business, Yahoo owns media properties like Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports and TechCrunch; all together with mail and news, Yahoo’s platforms had 900 million monthly active users in 2022.
Yahoo announced its acquisition of peer-to-peer sports betting app Wagr on April 25, which is intended to help Yahoo Sports expand its gaming portfolio. Later that week, Yahoo announced a partnership with Pear Commerce. The ecommerce tech firm will partner with Yahoo’s DSP to help marketers target their ads more effectively by customizing products and retailers.
