Yahoo! and Havas Digital form strategic partnership

Havas Digital is partnering with Yahoo! to develop a new online trading platform. The announcement closely follows WPP’s tie up with Yahoo! which is similarly developing a more efficient way of buying and selling digital advertising space.

Under the agreement Havas Digital will work with Yahoo!’s Right Media Exchange business, which it acquired in July 2007, to develop a proprietary media trading platform based on Yahoo! technology.

The idea is to create a more efficient system that allows web publishers to sell inventory in real time while conversely allowing advertisers to bid for it in real time.

Don Epperson, chief executive officer of Havas Digital says: “The combined capabilities will allow Havas Digital clients to execute highly segmented media buys on a mass scale.”

The partnership mirrors that of the deal struck last month between rival marketing services group WPP and Yahoo!, which will work with GroupM, digital marketing company 24/7 Real Media and WPP Digital.