Yahoo! Launches AdLabs for Digital Ad Analysis

In the US, Internet services giant Yahoo! has launched AdLabs - a group focused on accelerating innovation in digital advertising products, and tapping into the services offered by its existing Yahoo! Labs research unit.

Yahoo! Labs was founded in 2005 to create data to drive the next generation of business for Yahoo! and has since produced studies on online advertising, pioneered the concept of 'Computational Advertising' and conducted numerous studies of consumer behavior and advertising metrics.

AdLabs will focus on providing thought leadership to the digital ad community, based on scientific research in the field. The unit will also drive innovation in digital ad products by mining Yahoo!'s data repository of campaigns and associated metrics; and will work with key advertising and data partners to test some of the insights it uncovers.

The team has already conducted a study to analyze the impact of a retail campaign on offline sales, and found that digital advertising is more effective when it is targeted to people living very close to one of the advertisers' retail stores.

'Marketers need new, breakthrough, scientifically-tested methodologies to drive important metrics,' states Ken Mallon, appointed as VP and Head of Yahoo! AdLabs. 'Yahoo! has the scale to measure the impact of many campaigns and the breadth of expertise to produce the new models and innovations that will move the digital advertising industry forward.'

Web site: http://labs.yahoo.com.