Yahoo, the Web portal that rose prominence in part by selling banner ads, is looking to move away from the very format it inflicted on the world as it continues to adapt to the mobile age.
Instead, Yahoo’s focus is on Stream ads — Yahoo’s name for its native ad placements — for its mobile properties, a response to how media is being presented and consumed on the Internet in general and on mobile specifically. Whether on Instagram, Twitter or Yahoo, Internet users are increasingly consuming media in endless vertical streams. For platforms and publishers, it affords them a chance to move away from selling the beleaguered banner ad and toward ads that are supposed to be more engaging, and, with luck, more valuable.