Dive Brief:
- Yahoo and Facebook reportedly are in talks to use Facebook’s Audience Network to sell mobile ads on Tumblr, according to The Information.
- If the two companies come to an agreement it's expected they would split the revenue for the ads sold.
- This news comes on the heels of a Marketing Land report that the blogging platform is set to take over control of its future and its advertising sales.
Dive Insight:
Per The Information, Tumblr is only selling 10% to 15% of its available ad inventory, making any drastic move something worth considering. In the potential deal, Facebook Audience Network would take up the slack on the unsold ad space. For Yahoo, allowing a third-party competitor to sell ads on one of its properties wouldn’t be unprecedented as both Google and Microsoft sell ads on Yahoo search.
What is interesting about the timing of this news is that just last week Marketing Land reported that Tumblr was putting its own ad team in place, taking over for a Yahoo team that had taken over last year and clearly underperformed.
Last week, a Tumblr spokesperson told Marketing Land, "Since the (Yahoo) acquisition, Tumblr has introduced a number of innovative ad products to maximize value for our advertisers and best meet their needs," and added, "to further support these efforts moving forward, we have returned to a Tumblr-dedicated direct sales team."
With increased competition in the social media landscape, and greater overall turmoil at Yahoo, it is not surprising the blogging network or its parent company are looking to make moves that will revitalize and boost their positioning.
