Adobe, Yahoo to Partner in PDF Ad Platform (update)

Adobe (ADBE) will announce Thursday a program that will allow publishers to run ads from Yahoo's (YHOO) ad service alongside PDF documents, the Wall Street Journal reports. Currently, publishers are forced to insert static ads into PDFs, meaning they must sell and produce the ads on their own. Now publishers will be able to display ads alongside PDFs by uploading the PDF to Adobe's website and ad-enabling it. The platform will also allow advertisers to use Yahoo's existing self-service ad system to buy text ads that will appear to the right of PDF documents. The ads will be contextually placed based on the content of the PDF. Ad revenue will be shared between the publisher, Adobe and Yahoo; the firms gave no details as to the revenue split. Publishers participating in the program, called Ads for Adobe PDF Powered by Yahoo, include Meredith (MDP), Reed Elsevier plc (RUK) and Pearson plc's (PSO) Pearson Education.

The program will open up yet-unexplored opportunities for its advertisers, Todd Teresi, SVP of Yahoo's publisher network says, particularly with smaller customers, some of whom don't even have websites. For example, local youth soccer leagues that publish weekly e-mail mini-newsletters could raise funds through contextual placements for soccer equipment, jerseys, and even minivans he said. "The primary users long-term are going to be down the tail," Teresi said. "It enables the expansion of publishers who can bring their content online in a way that enables them to support that activity," (Adweek).

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.