Strategic Partnership With Ya

RNS Number : 6248U

WPP Group PLC

16 May 2008

 



Immediate Release

16 May 2008

WPP GROUP PLC ("WPP")

YAHOO! and WPP FORGE MULTI-YEAR STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

Sunnyvale, Calif. and London  - May 16, 2008 - Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) and WPP's (NASDAQ: WPPGY) GroupM, 24/7 Real Media and WPP Digital today announced a strategic partnership that will enable WPP agencies to buy digital display advertising across the Internet more efficiently than ever before. The partnership will initially involve a collaboration between Yahoo! and WPP's GroupM and 24/7 Real Media. 

"More and more, we see the need for agencies and media and technology companies to work together to create a new level of value," said Mark Read, WPP's Director of Strategy and CEO of WPP Digital. "We are very pleased to have established this partnership with Yahoo! which, enabled by our earlier acquisition of 24/7 Real Media, will turn this vision into a reality."

As part of the agreement, WPP agencies, working through 24/7 Real Media, will develop a proprietary media trading platform that connects to Yahoo!'s Right Media Exchange. WPP agencies will work with 24/7 Real Media to integrate their proprietary targeting capabilities into the platform and develop custom trading strategies, which can be seamlessly executed via the Right Media Exchange on a highly targeted and cost-effective basis.

"As marketers take new approaches to understand and engage consumers, we are thrilled to partner with a powerhouse like WPP to evolve and grow their digital practice with our next-generation solutions," said Hilary Schneider, EVP of Global Partner Solutions for Yahoo!.  "We are committed to providing the technology, insights and media expertise required to deliver the most relevant audiences across the web and to power the seamless conversation with consumers that drives greater brand awareness, consideration, intent and most importantly - action."

WPP will also work with Yahoo! to develop a WPP marketplace, giving WPP's agencies even greater access to inventory, visibility across the market and insight into value. WPP intends to draw inventory for the WPP marketplace from Yahoo!'s owned- and-affiliated networks and 24/7's Global Web Alliance. The marketplace would also be open to third-party publishers.

"This partnership with Yahoo! will give our agencies and, in turn, our clients, an advantage in securing more relevant, high-quality digital media inventory. And, it will be aggregated to our bespoke needs, at the best value for our clients," said Irwin Gotlieb, CEO of GroupM. 

About WPP

 WPP is a world leader in communications services.  Through its operating companies, the Group provides a comprehensive range of advertising and marketing services to national, multinational and global clients.  For more information, visit www.wpp.com. 
  
GroupM is WPP's media investment management arm - comprising leading media agencies MediaCom, Mediaedge:cia, MindShare Worldwide and MAXUS -   which focuses on the intelligent application of volume and scale in trading, innovation and quality of services.   

24/7 Real Media, a member of WPP, is a leading global digital marketing company which empowers advertisers and publishers to engage their target audiences with greater precision, transparency and ROI.  Using its award winning ad serving, targeting, tracking and analytics platform, powerful search marketing technology and global network of specialized web sites, the company has turned the art of reaching audiences across virtually any digital medium into a measurable science. 

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on powering its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and developers by creating indispensable experiences built on trust. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties concerning Yahoo!'s strategic partnership with WPP's GroupM, 24/7 Real Media and WPP Digital (including without limitation the statements contained in the quotations from management in this press release), as well as Yahoo!'s strategic and operational plans. Actual events or results may differ materially from those described in this press release due to a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties include, among others, the possibility that the expected or planned implementations of the partnership described may be delayed, may not ultimately be implemented, or if implemented may not be successful; and that the anticipated benefits to Yahoo!, WPP's GroupM, 24/7 Real Media and WPP Digital, marketers and consumers may not be realized. More information about potential factors that could affect Yahoo!'s business and financial results is included under the captions, "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008, which are on file with the SEC and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. 

Media Contacts:

WPP
Kevin McCormack
212-632-2239

[e-mail]

Yahoo!                        

Lauren Meller                             Brigida Bergkamp
646-213-6103                            408 336 0524                    
[e-mail]            [e-mail]

 

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