After months of speculation that Yahoo might part with ad exchange Right Media, the company is going out of its way to affirm its commitment to its core ad technology.
In a mini media blitz of stories in the ad trades today, company executives said Yahoo has no plans to let it go.
“We just want to go on the record … Yahoo is committed to being a primary player in the ad technology space and Right Media is part of that strategy,” Michael Barrett, Yahoo’s chief revenue officer, told Ad Age.
And, according to the ad news outlet, the directive to clear up confusion about the future of Right Media came right from the top.
“When I first met with Marissa, I told her, ‘Hey, the last couple of months have really been very negative toward the future of our ad-tech stack,’” Brian Silver, Right Media’s chief told Ad Age. “She said, ‘Then we have to ensure that we get out there and tell them it’s just not true.’”
Over the past few months, as the future of Yahoo itself has been a question mark, several reports have surfaced rumors around the sale of Right Media. Most recently, AllThingsD reported in June that as part of his plan to fashion Yahoo into a media company, interim CEO Ross Levinsohn was considering outsourcing Yahoo’s ad business to Google, Microsoft and AppNexus or Pubmatic.
In addition to commenting for the first time on the Right Media rumors, Yahoo is also trying to play up its investments in the ad exchange. While some observers say Right Media has languished since its 2007 sale to Yahoo, the Sunnyvale, Calif. Company plans to publish a blog post later this morning showcasing recent improvements.
While the company wouldn’t confirm a number, Ad Age reported that other industry insiders have said Yahoo plans to invest at least several hundred million dollars into Right Media and other parts of its ad tech stack.