The other day Yahoo launched their long awaited “SmartAds” platform.  The technology has been in beta form for some time and has now been released to the eager hordes of marketers.

SmartAds uses cookies data and information from members who log in.  The platform continuously monitors the user’s behaviour, and allows marketers to deliver very specific ads to the consumer, while at the same time reaching a wide audience.   Marketers are able to create individual media rich assets and a database of different offers, and then allow the platform to create on-the-fly combinations, responsive to the user’s behavioural patterns.

For example, if I was constantly looking at the Yahoo theatre page from the Gold coast, and recently conducted a search for Sydney deals, a SmartAd may appear saying something like “Fly Gold coast to Sydney for Miss Saigon - $189”

These SmartAds are a marketers dream, and have really bridged the gap between brand and direct marketing.   What’s more the ads have seen a 2 – 3 times increase in click-through rates, compared to static non-personalised versions.

So far SmartAds are only for the travel industry, but Yahoo has stated that it won’t be long (probably the end of the year) that SmartAds will be delivering results for the automotive and retail sectors.

So look out for the SmartAd, and see if they entice you to click through!