Yahoo! EVP of Americas says Genome was "absolutely designed" to meet advertisers' requests

Rich Riley, Yahoo!'s new EVP of the Americas, kicked off Internet Week New York yesterday with a major new product announcement—Genome from Yahoo!, a new audience buying solution that brings together comprehensive data, industry-leading analytics and premium inventory to help marketers reach their optimum audiences quickly and efficiently.

Riley took time out yesterday to talk to Yahoo! Advertising Blog about the new solution. In this video, he nets out Genome's benefits to marketers, saying that the new solution is "absolutely designed (based) on what we've heard from advertisers."

--- The Team

Announcement came during Yahoo!'s "Big Data, Big Solutions" session at Internet Week, keynoted by Billy Beane of "Moneyball" fame, followed by industry panel discussion featuring speakers from Digitas, Neo@Ogilvy, Citibank, Axciom and others

Big data—and how to analyze and leverage it—was a recurring theme running through Yahoo!'s "Big Data, Big Solutions" session this morning on the opening day of Internet Week New York.

The session kicked off with an inspiring keynote from Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A's and hero of the film "Moneyball." Beane shared how his innovative analysis of player data helped him reshape his team to compete more effectively against much richer clubs, and how baseball, like marketing, is a game won or lost by the ability to read data.

Following Beane, Yahoo!'s newly appointed Executive Vice President of the Americas Rich Riley took the stage, where he introduced "Genome from Yahoo," a new custom audience buying solution that leverages big data and insights to help advertisers get the most out of their media investments.

Genome, which will be available as of July 1, comes at a time when marketers are at a crossroads ---the amount of data and technology options available is overwhelming. Which data set is most complete and reliable? If I commit to a technology solution will it really help me get better results? At the same time, media planning and buying techniques are becoming outdated.

Riley noted Genome will help turn "the overwhelming amount of big data confronting marketers into audience data and actionable insights that will help them run successful campaigns. With Genome, we will offer a more holistic approach that provides the content experiences that consumers want, and the audience insights that marketers desire."

Editor's Note: The Yahoo! Advertising blog recently asked several agency leaders one question: "What are some key trends you're seeing in political advertising this election season?" Here is the response from Angela Riley, Strategy Director for Wolff Olins, who talks about what brands and politicians can learn from each other to better engage consumers---and constituents.

For Politicians and Brands, It's Essential to Be Clear, Consistent and Authentic

Like a short-lived advertising campaign, political messaging platforms can evaporate into the ether without ever resonating with the voting public. Perhaps, like the all-too-common one-off approach of a glossy advertising campaign to appeal to an audience, politicians react to public sentiment and rush to get a message out before they've figured out what they really stand for.

Politicians can take a page from well-loved brands, which stand for something clear, authentic and desirable. Think Target and the democratization of chic, or BMW - the ultimate driving machine. Think too of the Obama-Biden presidential campaign of 2008 standing for "Hope" and "Change" — similarly clear, authentic and hugely desirable (given the public sentiment at the time).

So how can a political candidate get at the authentic, aspirational heart of what they stand for? One of the classic tools in defining a brand is to "bleed the truth out of" two fundamental components: what the world needs and what's special about you. If we apply that discipline to the world of politics, it could be helpful for candidates to think about "what the world needs" from their party perspective, and "what's special about you" from their candidate perspective.

And this is where brand strategy could learn a lesson from the world of politics — to engage with consumers you have to be clear, consistent and authentic. What the best politicians do well is use consistency and authenticity to appeal to constituents. Kitchen table chats are a traditional tactic for politicians to get inside the home and heart of their voters (albeit used most often during election cycles).

Con sonar! Universal Pictures has deployed a fleet to bombard the Yahoo! homepage with a slick, cinematic custom takeover for its new summer tentpole film "Battleship"

"You sunk my battleship!"

The ubiquitous phrase from the popular board game has taken on new meaning in Universal's film of the same name. Loosely inspired by the game but with an extraterrestrial twist, "Battleship" stars Taylor Kitsch ("Friday Night Lights"), Alexander Skarsgård ("True Blood"), Brooklyn Decker, Rihanna, and Liam Neeson. Helmed by actor-turned-director Peter Berg ("Very Bad Things," "Friday Night Lights," "The Kingdom," "Hancock"), "Battleship" will dock at a multiplex near you on Friday, May 18.

To tide movie fans over in the meantime, a rich media custom takeover did just that to the Yahoo! homepage on May 8 in literally explosive style.

No sooner do you arrive than the homepage comes under attack from behind in a clever cinematic overlay that blows open a hole in the top half of the page to show a quick succession of clips from the film.

Fans watching final episodes can win vacation getaway in "second-screen" sweepstakes

Most of us watch TV while using our smartphones and tablets at the same time. ABC, Lexus and Yahoo! are leveraging that trend to engage fans of the TV drama "Revenge" in a new way---the industry's first "second-screen" sweepstakes that rewards viewers of the season's final two episodes with a chance to win a week-long beachfront vacation at the Hamptons, the show's locale.

Here's how it works: Viewers can enter the vacation sweepstakes via a second screen---their smartphone or tablet---using IntoNow from Yahoo!, a mobile application that makes it easy for friends to connect around their favorite TV shows.

To enter, all fans have to do is fire up the app while watching the show's season-ending episodes on May 16 and 23. The app will give viewers the chance to engage with the show in new and compelling ways, including new videos, show trivia games and real-time Twitter feeds from the cast and crew.

Yahoo! Takes Center Stage with a Big Lineup of Content and Speakers

Internet Week New York may have begun in 2008 as a "festival" celebrating the Web and the digital community in New York City, but it's quickly grown into one of the world's leading digital industry conferences. The 2012 edition, set for May 14-17, is expected to draw more than 35,000 digital enthusiasts of every kind, from advertisers to entrepreneurs to social media gurus. And it seems fitting that Yahoo!, the premier digital media company, will lead the way at this premier event as its title sponsor and a major presence on panels and at podiums all across the agenda.

Throughout the week, Yahoo! will be a major presence at Internet Week New York's Headquarters, the main meeting place for event attendees. It features galleries, content theaters and a digital playground---stop by for cool displays of Yahoo!'s online content, audience solutions and more.

Here's an overview of our Internet Week activities that we hope you'll attend … or follow on our blog, Facebook and Twitter pages:

Monday, May 14:

"Big Data, Big Solutions": The explosion of data, technology and other factors are making the buying and selling of digital advertising ever more challenging. Yahoo! is sponsoring a keynote speech and an industry panel to explore fresh ideas and solutions for the industry. Register here.

• Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A's, will deliver an informative and inspirational keynote on how he used data in revolutionary ways to help his team compete and win against rivals with much bigger budgets---as depicted in the popular movie "Moneyball."
• Next, a panel including our own Peter Foster, general manager, Audience and Performance Advertising, and senior leaders from Acxiom, Citibank, Digitas and Neo@Ogilvy will discuss how marketers can navigate through the online advertising ecosystem to build brand value, influence purchase decisions and drive revenue. Panel moderator is Forrester's Joanna O'Connell.
• News alert: Attendees will also hear a special announcement from Rich Riley, Yahoo! executive vice president of the Americas. (If you can't make it, the panel will be broadcast via LiveStream and we'll have full coverage here.)

Kenshoo's Will Crew gives tips to search marketers on planning your match-type strategy

I was fortunate to be a part of the recent  Yahoo! Search and Bing Advertiser Forum in San Francisco. A lot of good ideas, tips and strategies were floating around the room that day. We at Kenshoo were particularly interested to hear about newer developments with match type and negative keywords that adCenter has introduced lately and it got us thinking, too.

All search marketers know how important it is to make good decisions about match types and to select negative keywords carefully. Sometimes these lessons are really obvious and hit us over the head, and other times there are nuanced choices that can make all the difference in quality score and bottom-line results.

The importance of negative keywords

When talking with people about the importance of negative keywords, I like to pull examples from the entertainment industry because they're so easy to understand. What, for example, has 50 Cent done to search results for the deep discount industry? What does one expect when typing in LMFAO? Are cab companies now forced to optimize differently because of Death Cab for Cutie? And what impact does the band Civil Wars have on documentarian Ken Burns?

Kenshoo works with many advertisers in the entertainment industry who need to leverage this kind of intelligence constantly to keep their leading position. By taking advantage of various match types and negative keyword features within adCenter, we've seen improvements in click-rates and volume of qualified traffic.

Beane to Keynote Yahoo!'s "Big Data, Big Solutions" Panel at Internet Week in New York on May 14

Billy Beane has a fascinating story that marketers can look to for inspiration, and during the Yahoo! Big Data, Big Solutions panel at Internet Week, he'll share that story. If you've ever wanted to chat box scores, stats and strategies with this charismatic, unique thinker, now's your chance. Yahoo! can put you backstage with Billy before his keynote address for a special VIP meet and greet.   

Billy's Story

After spending several seasons as a professional baseball player, Beane joined the front-office ranks as a scout, eventually working his way up to general manager of the Oakland A's. There, Beane harnessed the power of data to transform a small-budget, small-market team into a competitive force against baseball's super-funded, big-market franchises — a dramatic story famously chronicled in the 2003 best-seller Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game and the critically acclaimed 2011 movie Moneyball starring Brad Pitt. 

The Big Data, Big Solutions Panel at Internet Week

Despite the increasing shift to digital media and all of the data, insights and optimization opportunities it affords, marketers still face a similar underdog situation when competing against bigger budgets and louder voices. The answer isn't necessarily to outspend, but to use data to your advantage. But in the past few years, the buying and selling of digital ad inventory has become more of a challenge for many reasons, including the explosion of data.

Yahoo! will host a panel discussing ways in which marketers can navigate through the complexities of online advertising to achieve results that build brand value, influence purchase decisions, and grow revenue.   The session will open with Billy Beane's keynote, followed by a major news announcement from Yahoo! and conclude with a discussion featuring panelists from Forrester Research, Citibank, Acxiom, Ogilvy, Digitas and Yahoo!.