(Associated Press via NewsEdge) Yahoo added another weapon in its high-stakes duel with its richer Internet rival Google by snapping up online advertising exchange Right Media for $680 million.
Although the cash-and-stock price is well below the $3.1 billion that Google recently agreed to pay for online ad distributor DoubleClick, Right Media didn't come cheaply for Yahoo.
Last October, Right Media was valued at $200 million based on the $40 million that Yahoo paid to acquire a 20% stake in the privately held company at that time.
Yahoo is now paying more than three times Right Media's valuation just six months ago to gain full ownership of an exchange designed to make it easier for Web publishers to show what they have to sell to online advertisers.
The notion of a more transparent market is becoming increasingly attractive to both publishers and advertisers, especially since it has become apparent billions of dollars in spending is bound to migrate from other media to the Internet during the next decade.
With the shift, major advertisers are expected to increasingly emphasize more visual ads instead of the short text-based messages that have driven the success of search-driven networks controlled by Google and Yahoo.
Both Right Media and DoubleClick specialize in these display, or so-called 'graphical,' ads. After focusing primarily on finding the best place to show advertisers' messages, Doubleclick is now trying to develop an exchange similar to the one Right Media has been building up for the past two years.
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