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Yahoo!7 pulls out of online publisher ad exchange

yahoo7Yahoo!7 has withdrawn from negotiations as Australia’s leading online publishers finalise plans to establish a premium advertising marketplace, Mumbrella can reveal.

In April, it was reported that Australia’s big four online publishers, News Corp Australia, Fairfax Media, Mi9 and Yahoo!7 were in discussions to create an advertising exchange that would aim to challenge the power of online behemoth Google in the Australian online advertising market.

Mumbrella understands negotiations are now in their final stages with the exchange due to launch by the end of next month.

Sources close to the discussions have said the reason for Yahoo!7’s withdrawal is that it is unhappy with the commercial arrangements being offered within the exchange, particularly around the costs and method by which inventory will be sold.

“There was an assumption made that Yahoo!7 would be keen. We would welcome with open arms any premium publisher who wanted to be in there. But with Yahoo!7, discussions didn’t get far,” said one executive.

Sources have told Mumbrella that while Yahoo!7 will not be a launch partner, the company could join the exchange at a later time if they can be satisfied about the commercial arrangements.

“The exchange is a great concept and we’re keen to push it forward,” an executive from a rival publisher told Mumbrella. “The door is always open to them.”

Google currently dominates the Australian online advertising market and, according to data from the company, sells 80 per cent of its exchange inventory via its the real-time bidding platform which is now more than two years old.

Mi9 launched the Microsoft Advertising Exchange 18 months ago and is understood to currently sell around a third of its online ads via the platform.

Last year News Corp also set up a private exchange where agencies and some advertisers are able to buy unsold inventory programmatically. The Australian newspaper has recently reported that the exchange has been responsible for a 250 per cent increase in yield for the publisher in terms of online inventory.

Nic Christensen

Encore Issue 24

This story first appeared in the weekly edition of Encore available for iPad and Android tablets. Visit encore.com.au for a preview of the app or click below to download.

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