LookingConfident's  Instablog

Yahoo! and Facebook have now settled their problems surrounding Patent violations. They decided to launch a new advertising partnership, extend and expand distribution arrangements, and to settle all pending patent claims between the companies. From within an announcement on Yahoo's website we're told they'll work together to bring consumers and advertisers premium media experiences promoted and distributed across both Yahoo! and Facebook.

It appears that the companies will work with ads that will run on both sites and integrate sharing between the two sites:

"Yahoo! and Facebook will also work together to bring Yahoo!'s large media event coverage to Facebook users by collaborating on social integrations on the Yahoo! site."

On 1st hearing the good news my initial thoughts were that it will help to greatly "expand" the audience base of Looksmart's global CPA/CPV performance marketplace and (ultimately) will allow advertisers (those, who may happen to be aligned with both 'camps'), to capitalise on user targeting within the broader reach, that this deal can create.

In a Kara Swisher (AllThingsDigital) 'exclusive' she advises that:

< Facebook will allow Yahoo to be the first partner to feature information about its users' "Likes" in actual display advertising on Yahoo. [And that] Yahoo is one of the few Facebook partners with access to information from its social graph; Facebook, in turn, gets user contact data from Yahoo.>

Through an independent Looksmart (and within it's unique marketplace), this 'deal' now brings Google advertisers into the above equation on a CPA basis.

Readers may recall this August 24, 2011 Webmaster Radio interview with Benoit Vatere, VP of the Distribution Networks for LookSmart. The two Big Guns mentioned as providing Looksmart 'user intent' based on search keywords, were both Yahoo and Google.

"it's complex..[Benoit explains]....it's behond search and attribution. [it's] how can we follow keyword search intent.."..."we are touching these users through search queries, a good indication of intent ...how can we follow these users? We are looking at the IP, the individual user"

seekingalpha.com/instablog/36191-looking...

A ONE (true) OPEN CPA/CPV marketplace?

Yahoo! & Facebook will likely target users across both their user bases. And there's no doubt (I feel) that Google would too use search based targeting on it's own publisher partner sites, likewise.

But for Google advertisers to be enabled to reach users on Yahoo sites & Facebook, and vice-versa? Enter the Looksmart solution/s.

In what becomes an only ONE (a true - zero friction) OPEN CPA/CPV marketplace that can protect respective 'user data' for all it's publisher partners. And with all that Looksmart search based 'user intent' data being provided for and becoming totally equal to.. all advertisers.

As always, only an opinion.

LOOK: $0.9150 0.0050 (-0.54%) Jul 6, 3:08PM

LC

Disclosure: Long LOOK

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