Viacom, Yahoo join ad forces

Multi-year search ad deal covers 33 of Viacom’s sites and could expand to 140 more worldwide.

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. said Tuesday that it had chosen Yahoo Inc. to provide search advertising for 33 of its Internet sites in a major boost to Yahoo’s new Web ad system.

The system, dubbed Project Panama, was launched in early February and is seen as a key test of Yahoo’s ability to offer advertisers a competing technology to Web search leader Google Inc (down $1.71 to $466.50, Charts).

Viacom said the multiyear advertising partnership with Yahoo covers broadband sites for its MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon networks and could expand to more than 140 additional sites worldwide.

Through its new system, Yahoo will provide search tools and serve up contextual advertising, which utilizes data on what a user is looking at online.

Yahoo spokeswoman Gaude Lydia Paez declined to comment on financial terms of the deal with Viacom.

“It is our typical revenue-sharing deal we use with most of our partners,” Paez said. “It is exclusive, and it is multiyear.”

Viacom last month sued Google and its video-sharing site YouTube for $1 billion for failing to protect its copyrighted entertainment from being placed online without authorization.

Shares of Viacom (down $0.30 to $40.70, Charts) edged lower on the New York Stock Exchange, while shares of Yahoo (up $0.32 to $31.96, Charts) rose nearly 1 percent on Nasdaq.

Source