Yahoo’s tie up with Afterpay stole the show at its annual upfront in Sydney last week. Guests were treated to lavish dining, fine wine and solid servings of Yahoo announcements to boot. One announcement got tastebuds wagging, while others were slightly undercooked.
The company leaned heavily into its “OG’s of the internet” identity, positioning itself to fill a vacuum if Google is forced to spin off parts of its advertising business.
The Newfronts event was led by Yahoo’s AUSEA executive team, including managing director AUSEA, John McNerney, director of data and insights AUSEA, Dan Richardson, director of commercial and platforms AUSEA, Andrew Gilbert, and head of commercial, Maddie Basso.
Afterpay Media Network
A mic drop moment was the announcement that Yahoo’s DSP was partnering with Afterpay to launch the Afterpay Media Network. Launching in Q4 of this year, it will allow brands to access Afterpay’s shopping insights – prioritising the privacy of customer identities – to connect brands with target audiences across multiple online and physical shopping channels.
John McNerney was joined on stage by Katrina Konstas, EVP, country manager and head of sales, APAC, and Eric Batscha, head of programmatic partnerships, Afterpay & CashApp, to discuss the new partnership.
“Consumers are cognisant of how and when they spend. The launch of the Afterpay Media Network is the first time bringing endemic and non-endemic advertisers together, enabling them to reach their audiences in a measurable and relevant way,” Konstas said.
“Afterpay decided to partner with Yahoo because it is a company that has built such trust with its customers, and there is an alignment of values. There is this beautiful synergy between leaders of their respective worlds, it’s building strength upon strength.”
B&T chatted with UM group trading director Steven Flood after the event.
“The Afterpay media network is going to be one of the biggest shakeups to the e-commerce world,” he said. “E commerce and bricks and mortar clients will be very interested in this offering, as products and brands will be advertised online and can then have customers go in store using the Network.
“It’s fairly inevitable when you look at commerce media. Clients are more and more chasing something like it. With the way fragmentation is going in the industry, having more options for clients is the way to move forward.”
Yahoo ConnectID
Aside from the Afterpay Media Network, a significant announcement was Yahoo ConnectID. It uses consent-based, first-party data to support cookie-less advertising, and has been integrated across premier Australian publishers, including News Corp, Seven West Media and The New Daily and is now also live across its major SSP partners.
The Dynamic Ads product is powered by the Yahoo Connect ID.
“Aside from Afterpay Media Network, the other big one is the Dynamic Ads product powered by the Yahoo Connect ID. Not because it’s new, but if I was to bucket the big theme, they’re bringing choice to our clients and our advertisers. The Dynamic Ads market is so cornered by FlashTalking and Google’s AdCanvas, it just provides more optionality and testing with different formats and identifiers,” said Flood.
Yahoo’s announcements arrive at a time when global regulators are eyeing Google.
“I guess you could make fair assumptions of the breakup of Google,” said Flood. “Yahoo is positioning itself to step naturally into that vacuum if that happens. I think it’s a smart move. “Yahoo has been in that space for a long time, and resting on being the internet’s OG works well for them.
“They’re hedging a bet with Google’s anti-trust law suits, and they have a great option as a company to move into that space as they have got legacy, trust and stability. They’re playing for the long game”.
Yahoo Blueprint
Yahoo Blueprint is a new AI-powered tool designed to optimise performance across channels. The tool supports omnichannel personalisation through Yahoo Creative, a recently launched creative marketing solution that helps advertisers tailor messaging across multiple platforms for more effective engagement.
“The details were a bit light on Yahoo Blueprint – it’s a new algorithm, but what does that actually mean?” added Flood. “There wasn’t enough information provided to convince me to talk to my client about swapping to it at the moment.”
PurpleLab is Yahoo’s research platform developed in partnership with Qualtrics. It allows brands to secure access to representative data at speed. The Australian market is the first to have access to this platform, which uses data from real panels that is fraud and AI bot free.
“PurpleLab was not demonstrated that well. As an industry, we are overloaded by research across the board,” said Flood. “It was not clear how it’s different from what currently exists in the market.”
Overall Flood said Yahoo’s upfront was “really exciting” for the company and its plans for the future. In particular it showcased how Yahoo’s Australia team is tapping into consumer needs.
