Yahoo! in RP changes ad strategy to please clients

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine subsidiary of internet services company Yahoo! has shifted its advertising strategy, cutting the number of local resellers after clients said they had “too many agencies" to deal with. The company has “switched gears in its advertising model," Yahoo! Philippines general manager Jojo Añonuevo said at a recent “kick-off" event for its 2009 plans. The move is a result of feedback from advertisers who encountered issues in dealing with “too many ad agencies," Añonuevo disclosed. As a result, Yahoo! Philippines will be hiring additional staff this year as it adopts a direct sales model for its ad strategy. The direct sales model will make it easier and more flexible for advertisers and marketers to launch and manage digital ad campaigns on the Yahoo! network, the executive said. Although it did not reveal the number of employees it seeks to hire, Yahoo! said it will run a slew of campaigns this year focusing on opportunities of using display, search, and mobile advertising products. By 2010, an estimated $15 million will be spent on online display advertising, and over $7 million will be spent on search advertising in the Philippines, Yahoo! said, citing results of a December 2008 study it commissioned to research company Nielsen. Yahoo! Philippines is in a good position to capitalize on this potential as the company has an 85-percent reach of online consumers and 95 percent of mobile Web consumers in the country, Cris Concepcion, head of sales at Yahoo! Philippines. The current economic slowdown should prompt local firms to become more prudent by employing measurable and targeted ads, Concepcion added. “Now is not the time to hold back. Now is the time to spend more, don’t spend less," the executive said. Anonuevo also clarified that unlike some reports that have come out of the media, Yahoo is healthy financially with $7.2 billion in revenues in 2008. “This is not bad at all for a 14-year-old company," he said, adding that previous attempts to buy the Internet firm were a “distraction" and the company is now deftly led by new CEO Carol Bartz. Also at the kick-off event, the company announced the local launch of Yahoo SearchMonkey, a product that allows publishers and developers to create applications and enhanced Yahoo Search result. SearchMonkey builds on an Open Yahoo Search platform, allowing third parties to create results with a more useful and engaging Search experience by including links, images, and other information directly on the search results page. Finally, the company also unveiled that the Yahoo Advantage Program for Internet Cafes in the Philippines has entered its second phase. The initial phase, dubbed iCafe network, covered over 5000 Internet cafes, which represent half of the total Internet cafes in the country The focus of Yahoo Advantage will now be on engagement with iCafe owners and their customers. Yahoo and Level Up will also continue to expand its distribution, sign-ups, and Yahoo Advantage software installs while introducing new incentives for premium Internet cafés throughout the year. - GMANews.TV