Under Carol Bartz’s leadership, Yahoo’s cut a lot of products and services in recent months so that it could better focus on more important stuff.  Briefcase, Farechase, GeoCities, and Go are some of the fallen that quickly come to mind.

This development follows the same logic.  According to what’s been labeled a "DMX End of Life FAQ," "We are doing this because of market trends that have helped to inform our evolved strategy of becoming a premium supply and demand platform focused on being transparent, differentiated and interoperable."

As a result, the DMX platform will stop serving ads at the end of January.  Then, on March 1st, reports will become inaccessible.  And Yahoo declined to recommend any alternatives to the DMX platform, in case you’re curious.

The biggest question remaining might just be what’s next on Yahoo’s list of decisions to rethink.

Related Articles:

> Making Money With Content By Covering More Ground

> Yahoo Settles Mary Kay Trademark Infringement Suit

> Yahoo Shutting Down Paid Inclusion

“We are pleased to have closed our Right Media acquisition so quickly and are excited to welcome Right Media’s talented employees to the Yahoo! family,” stated Jerry Yang, Yahoo’s new CEO, in a press release.  In reference to Yang’s use of “quickly”: poor old Google surely wishes its DoubleClick deal could be resolved in the same manner.

In any case, Yang continued, “We believe Right Media will be a perfect complement to our industry leading advertising tools and capabilities and help Yahoo! continue to transform how advertisers and publishers connect to their target audiences.”

This won’t be an entirely new situation for either company – Yahoo has owned 20 percent of Right Media since October of last year, and Adweek’s Brian Morrissey reports that Yahoo has been active on the Right Media Exchange, which “lets publishers auction off ad space to ad networks and advertisers,” since that time.

The search engine company “has said it plans to sell most of its non-premium Web inventory in this fashion,” Morrissey then writes.

And Right Media is thrilled about that.  In the same release, Michael Walrath, Right Media’s CEO and founder, said, “We couldn’t be happier than to have found a home with Yahoo!, and look forward to working with Yahoo! as we continue to build the industry’s most open, accessible and vibrant advertising ecosystem.”

Yahoo Exchanges $680 Million For Right Media

Right Media will continue to operate as an independent division of Yahoo after the deal becomes finalized. Michael Walrath, CEO of Right Media, said at the Right Media blog that Yahoo will not receive any unfair advantage in their Exchange.

"A level playing field is one of the foundations of the Exchange and its success – it remains level," he wrote.

Yahoo provided several reasons on how participants in the Right Media Exchange will benefit from the acquisition, and from Yahoo’s increased participation as a buyer and seller in the Exchange:

• Advertisers will have greater inventory and audience options from Yahoo! and other participants in this exchange, as well as increased control and visibility into the buying process.
• Publishers will be able to bundle their own ad inventory with Yahoo!’s inventory and the exchange’s inventory – thereby boosting demand and generating the highest returns for each ad placement.
• Advertising networks will reap the same benefits as advertisers and publishers, and additionally, the exchange will benefit those ad networks with unique value propositions, giving them an opportunity to compete with the largest players, thanks to reduced friction and increased transparency.

Terry Semel posted a subtle dig at the Google/Double Click deal on Yahoo’s official blog, in talking about the deal.

"We think supply and demand should be regulated by the marketplace, not a closed platform," he said. "We think our open approach is a clear differentiator from others in the industry and will provide significant benefits to publishers and advertisers.

"This acquisition is an important step in our long-term vision to build the industry’s leading advertising and publisher ecosystem."