February 24, 2009

Yahoo is expected to unveil new tools on Tuesday that are intended to help marketers better target their online ads, according to a report Monday evening in The Wall Street Journal.

One service will target graphical ads to users based on particular search terms executed in Yahoo's search engine, customizing the offers in the ads based on the Web sites the user has visited. Another tool will allow marketers to purchase text ads that run with search results that are tailored to the time of day or the consumer's age and gender, the paper reported.

"Targeting a site with a couple hundred thousand users...I don't call that targeting. I call that wasted effort," Joanne Bradford, Yahoo's senior vice president of U.S. revenue and market development, told the paper. "Size does matter."

Bradford and Yahoo senior VP Michael Walrath are expected to discuss the new features at a conference in Orlando, Fla., on Tuesday.

Yahoo executives will have to implement the plan amid continued turmoil at the company. Yahoo has been under pressure for nearly a year after failing to complete mergers or strategic partnerships with Microsoft, Google, and Time Warner's AOL

Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz is rumored to be readying a major management reorganization that could be announced as early as this week. Bartz reportedly sent a memo on Friday to employees saying, "Get well-rested, because next week's a biggie." The reorganization is reportedly expected to have key executives such as chief operating officer, chief technology officer, and a new, more powerful chief marketing officer all report to Bartz.