Will Yahoo’s new ad platform have implications for targeted advertising in print and online? Yes. Here’s why. Currently there is a way to target print advertisements to readers based on demographics. But in order to do this the publication must employ variable data printing technology.
Now that Yahoo has deployed a sophisticated online advertising tool that allows personalized display advertising it will not be long before this happens in print. My company is launching a publication that does exactly this for display advertising in print using a patent pending method.
Publishers such as Chicago Tribune are developing ways to produce targeted editions for the suburbs and these publications will contain user generated content.
Eventually print and online display ad targeting will converge. This will happen in 2008 if not sooner.
