By IANS
New Delhi : Leading internet company Yahoo has bought a stake of over 35 percent in Gurgaon based online advertising agency Tyroo Media Pvt. Ltd, a top official said here Wednesday.
"Through this investment, Yahoo will have a significant presence in the online advertising business here," George Zacharias, managing director of Yahoo India, said at a press conference here.
Zacharias, however, declined to reveal the exact number of shares they have acquired or the amount of investment they have made but only said "our investment in Tyroo is somewhere between 35-50 percent."
Yahoo's decision to invest comes a day after their global profits dropped by 2.3 percent at the end of the second quarter, which also saw chief executive Terry Samuel being replaced by founder Jerry Yang.
Yahoo is also facing tough challenges from search engines like Google and other popular websites like Facebook.
"Every tie up is done to consolidate business and Yahoo is also doing the same," Zacharias said.
The cash infusion by Yahoo will be used by Tyroo to enhance their technology and sales network to reach out to the vast number of small and medium sized advertisers and publishers in the country.
"We are the largest online advertising agency in the country with a 25 percent market share. The future of online advertising is very target specific," said Harish Behl, founder and chief executive of Smile Interactive Technologies Group (SITG), which owns Tyroo.
"Today the industry is restricted to a very small group. And small and medium enterprises will play a big role in it."
Tyroo has a publisher base of more that 1,200 clients, which boasts of names like Microsoft, HSBC, ICICI, Dell and Tata Indicom to name a few.
When asked what prompted them to strike this deal with Yahoo, Behl said: "Money was not the main reason behind this deal. We went ahead because Yahoo showed their interest and keenness in this business.
"Yahoo has access to global customers and with their support we can attract a lot of international clients to India."