Yahoo!, whose Yahoo! Mobile reaches 49 million unique mobile users per month, unveiled three new rich media mobile advertising formats: Mobile Screen Takeover ads; Mobile Customized Expandable ads; and iPad Tap to Video ads. The takeover screens are customized units that stick with the customer as he or she scrolls the page. Expandable ads cover two-thirds of the screen and offer the screen space to incorporate features such as polls, lead-capture tools, social engagement and more rich media. The iPad Tap to Video are banner ads that expand to full canvas size.
Paul Cushman, Yahoo! senior director of mobile sales strategy, said that the new mobile ads are an attempt to capture eyeballs as consumers move toward “three-screen lives.” According to the Yahoo! blog, mobile traffic spikes whenever major TV events, such as live awards shows and sports competitions, take commercial breaks. For example, traffic on the Yahoo! Mobile front page increased an average of 10 percent during commercials during the 2010 World Cup Finals. These new rich media mobile ads are designed for “multitasking media switchers.”
Meanwhile, Cushman also revealed that Paramount’s “Shrek Forever After” campaign, targeting iPhone users on the Yahoo! Mobile homepage and the Yahoo! Movies mobile portal on the movie’s opening weekend, May 20-22, enjoyed a click-through rate of 6.2 percent compared to the PC version of the rich media campaign, which saw a .2 percent click-through rate.
