Yahoo has started testing app install advertisements across its mobile services, a move indicate the importance Yahoo is giving to the growing market for mobile apps, and its own demographic, having already announced in January it expected to have more mobile users than desktop users by the end of 2014. Several reports on Monday claimed Yahoo was testing app-install advertisements within its mobile properties’ content feeds, such as Finance, Mail, Weather, and Search, for iOS and Android users.
Yahoo is testing app install advertisements, in an effort to catch up in the growing and lucrative mobile ad market. The move follows statements made by Yahoo chief executive Marissa Mayer for over a year: “Yahoo’s future is mobile.” Yahoo was considered a leader in mobile years ago, but has since fallen way behind competitors such as Google and Facebook. A Yahoo spokesperson told VentureBeat Monday: “We’re testing in-stream ad opportunities with an initial group of advertisers who have mobile apps and want to connect directly with audiences across Yahoo mobile apps and sites.” The spokesperson did not say who the first group of advertisers are. The mobile advertising market totaled $13.1 billion in 2013 according to Gartner, and analysts say that figure will exceed $40 billion by 2017.