WebProNews

Yahoo and AT&T announced a partnership, where AT&T will sell Yahoo! display ad inventory to local businesses in the US. They will begin doing so later this summer.

"Local businesses are looking to drive in-store traffic, and our alliance with AT&T Interactive will help them reach a local audience of highly-engaged potential customers on Yahoo!," said Jim Schinella, Senior Vice President, North America Region, Yahoo!.

"As local businesses shift their advertising spend to reach the growing number of Internet consumers, AT&T Interactive and Yahoo! can equip them with the tools and expertise they need to be successful online,"  he added.

Hundreds of thousands of local businesses already use AT&T Interactive’s YellowPages.com resources. Now they will simply be able to add Yahoo display ads into their campaign mix.

"Our local advertisers are focused on growing their business so they look to us to help find the most comprehensive and effective ways to reach consumers," said Matt Crowley, Chief Marketing Officer, AT&T Interactive.

"Adding Yahoo!’s reach through highly targeted display advertising enhances our existing portfolio of local advertising products, allows our advertisers another way to raise their visibility and reach more online consumers," he added. "This joint effort is a natural extension of our existing relationship with Yahoo! and takes advantage of each company’s assets in the local market."

Joseph Tartakoff at PaidContent raises concern that this partnership may interfere with the best interests of Yahoo's newspaper partners, but cites an interview, in which Schinella dismisses such concerns. He basically says that newspaper and directory markets have always competed.