Yahoo has just announced two new types of advertisements aimed at generating more engagement from users.

Streams and Billboards

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer announced the new products, Stream Ads and interactive Billboard Ads, in a blog post this week.

Steam ads are sponsored posts embedded into the news stream of the Yahoo home page and appear across desktop and mobile devices. The ads become more tailored the more time users spend on Yahoo, and the model brings Yahoo into line with sponsored post advertising on platforms like Facebook and Twitter.

The interactive Billboard advertisement appears like a traditional banner ad but will deliver richer content. Mayer used the example of a movie trailer that includes additional information about the film and cast and allows viewers to buy tickets directly from the ad.

Stream of consciousness

The update is an extension of Yahoo's refresh to its homepage in February this year, which saw an increased emphasis on customisation and steaming news feeds.

“Advertising can, and should, enhance content discovery in a seamless and effective manner. The more our users spend time with Yahoo!, the more relevant and personalized the content and advertising becomes. Stream Ads are the sponsored twin to our newsfeed articles and are every bit as personalized and engaging,” wrote Mayer.

Ya who?

Whether the new ads will be enough to turn around, or at least arrest, Yahoo's ailing fortunes remains to be seen.

Stream ads are expected to debut this week, with Billboard interactive ads to follow shortly thereafter.

To learn more visit yodel.yahoo.com.

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