Yahoo Launches Mobile Ad Network & Mobile Publisher Services

Yahoo has launched a new Yahoo Mobile Publisher Services site designed to offer one-stop shopping for publishers that want to get mobile content into Yahoo in various ways. In particular, the services offered will be:

• Yahoo Mobile Ad Network: Will put ads out through Yahoo’s mobile network. Includes display ads, sponsored links and oddly, "video or in-game placements."
   
• Yahoo Mobile Content Engine: A special search engine designed to carry mobile-specific material, which will power the Yahoo oneSearch service.
   
• Yahoo Mobile Media Directory: A directory of mobile content, compiled by human editors.
   
• Yahoo Mobile Site Submit: The ability to submit presumably to Yahoo’s mobile content engine.

The new Yahoo Mobile Ad Network includes launch partners MobiTV (announcement here), Opera and go2. From the Yahoo press release:

Launch partners in the Yahoo! Mobile Ad Network include MobiTV, the global leader in mobile and broadband television and music services, Opera, the leading provider of Web browsers for mobile devices, and go2, the leading location-enabled mobile content network in the U.S. The first advertisements will go live in the second quarter of 2007. Yahoo! plans to expand the number of partners in the Yahoo! Mobile Ad Network over the coming months.

Yahoo Pushes oneSearch To Most Mobile Phones from us last week covers more about Yahoo oneSearch. Yahoo already has an existing mobile directory and submit page for that here. A much more improved support service is apparently coming. Again from the release:

• The Yahoo! Mobile Site Submit will allow publishers to provide information about their mobile site, such as a description and relevant tags, to ensure that their sites are accurately indexed and available to consumers through Yahoo! oneSearch. For example, a hotel could submit their mobile site, including description and tag, enabling weekend travelers to find their location and see if they still have rooms available through Yahoo! oneSearch.
   
• The Yahoo! Mobile Content Engine will allow publishers to make their content, such as listings or articles, discoverable to consumers by integrating it into Yahoo! oneSearch(TM). For example, a real estate company could publish a list of homes for sale, enabling a consumer to find them and get the detailed listing information they need all through Yahoo! oneSearch.

• The Yahoo! Mobile Media Directory will allow publishers to make their mobile media content accessible directly through Yahoo! oneSearch. Publishers could submit a catalog of their content such as ringtones, games, video and applications. Yahoo! Mobile Media Directory will combine Yahoo!’s editorial expertise, innovative search technology and the power of ratings and reviews from the Yahoo! community to drive discovery of mobile media. For example, a mobile game publisher could submit a list of their games, enabling a consumer to more easily discover a game, get relevant information like ratings and reviews all through Yahoo! oneSearch, as well as go to the publishers’ mobile site to get the game.

Yahoo to Offer a Network for Web Ads on Cellphones from the New York Times has a few more details, and Techmeme has related coverage here. Expect a revisit from us when more details actually go live.