In November 2023, Yahoo Advertising decided to shut the doors on its premium SSP platform and instead announced huge advancements in its publisher-direct DSP offering, Yahoo Backstage. The revamped DSP offering focused on the integration of a carefully selected list of over 100 premium publishers including Warner Bros Discovery, Xbox, Apple News and Overwolf - facilitating a direct line to curated, premium publisher inventory, enhancing engagement, brand visibility, and ROI. 

In addition, by reducing the number of technology participants within a media buy, and by supporting MFA-free (made-for-advertising) inventory, Yahoo Backstage has been able to offer an unparalleled supply of premium reach and a far more sustainable buying practice (now recognized by Jounce Media as the largest MFA-free supply source on the open Web).

Overwolf is thrilled to be a part of this exclusive cohort of premium publishers, offering a trusted supply of over 100M monthly gamers that advertisers could not otherwise reach. Whether media buyers are accessing our audience through Yahoo Backstage or direct, it signals a powerful stamp of approval to global media buyers that what we offer at Overwolf is unparalleled and differentiated within the gaming space. 

Overwolf proudly sits alongside industry giants Twitch, Roblox and Epic Games in Comscore’s Top 10 Gaming Platforms, and even within that list we stand alone in our unique inventory of desktop gaming apps that allows advertisers to reach gamers during playtime in non-disruptive and native ways across the biggest titles in the world.

In addition, third-party cookie deprecation is making Overwolf an even more enticing buy in 2024, with a majority of our desktop app audience using logged-in hashed emails that have become gold dust in terms of data in a post-cookieless world. We’re so pleased to see this buzz carry through to high ad demand and revenue for over 187,000 creators (and now 500 premium websites) on our platform - paying out over $201M in ad revenue through our platform in 2023 alone.

Enter Yahoo Blueprint

In December 2023, off the back of Yahoo Backstage, Yahoo officially launched Yahoo Blueprint, capitalizing on more than 20 years of AI machine learning development and proprietary data derived from 335M+ logged-in users globally. Through the wealth of this quality data, Yahoo’s titan DSP forecasting tool can help accurately project campaign delivery across all channels in the open web, as well as aiding in creative optimization to deliver better ad relevance. Its main purpose is to deliver better ad relevance, enhanced drive performance, and better campaign optimization. 

Last month, Yahoo Advertising announced their next industry-shaking update: Yahoo Blueprint Performance. In the latest update to its AI engine, key features include: 

• Enhanced AI-Powered Predictions: Ability to process 10 times more data signals enables more accurate predictions across fluctuating traffic patterns.

• Smarter buying: By improving the precision of bid placements and 90% faster feedback loop for more control on budget delivery, Yahoo Blueprint Performance ensures optimal use of ad budgets, focusing spend on the most impactful impressions. 

• Maintain Control: Advertisers control whether they opt into Yahoo Blueprint Performance, giving them choice based on what best aligns with their specific campaign objectives and preferences.

Early testers of Yahoo Blueprint Performance have already seen up to 30% improvement in campaign performance; no small feat for any major DSP or adtech solution. Alongside this, their Customer Value Optimization (CVO) feature for advertisers (now out of beta) provides advertisers with advanced first-party data solutions to combat signal loss for the impending cookie deprecation. CVO maximizes customer engagement and conversion based on scoring such as lifetime value, ensuring campaigns target the most valuable prospects.

In an undifferentiated and crowded market, Yahoo has nearly 570 patents for AI/machine learning DSP - a sign of what seems to be a tectonic shift for the advertising industry. Standing alongside global publisher giants such as ESPN, Apple News, and Microsoft, Overwolf is proud to be one of the select group of exclusive premium partners to reap the massive benefits of Yahoo Blueprint Performance, and by virtue, benefit our creator community too.

The future with Yahoo’s premium DSP will mean higher quality advertising, higher CPMs and more demand for inventory across our global network of creators - and we are on track to see ad revenue scale as we carry on through 2024.

Read the full press release here: https://www.advertising.yahooinc.com/press/yahoo-launches-blueprint-performance-elevating-ad-efficacy-with-ai-driven-optimization