Yahoo said it will be bringing its upfront pitch individually to advertisers and media buyers rather than hosting a big NewFront event in New York.
The struggling web company said it is also planning a series of localized events around the country to talk about video advertising opportunities.
Twitter later announced that it would be joining the NewFronts for the first time in order to showcase new original content and live programming.
Yahoo is in the process of being acquired by Verizon. After a series of security breaches involving Yahoo subscribers, the purchase price was reduced by $350 million to $4.48 billion.
"Our team is excited to launch a series of localized events across the country to discuss the massive and transformational growth of video advertising in more intimate settings with our agency and brand partners. Our consumers want choice and flawless access to exceptional video content across screens, so naturally we're offering our advertisers the same," said Lisa Utzschneider, chief revenue officer at Yahoo, in a blog post.
Utzschneider says video inventory across Yahoo's properties increased 29% year over year and time spent viewing video ads on Yahoo increased 42%.
"We're committed to helping our advertisers bring together content, data and technology to outperform their benchmarks and measure the full scope of their campaigns. When it comes to video, we see tremendous opportunity as we focus on exceptional content across our key verticals and continuously enhancing our ad offerings. With a series of smaller, more intimate events, we look forward to helping our advertisers capitalize on this growth," she said.
Twitter said that video consumption on its site is rising and is the company's largest revenue generating ad format.
“We have made major investments in video over the past few years, and being able to present the breadth, depth and quality of that content at the Newfronts is the ultimate culmination of those efforts,” said Matthew Derella, VP of Global Revenue & Operations at Twitter. “In 2017 and beyond, we are investing further in the video viewing experience, content development and collaborations, and video solutions for advertisers and we are excited to tell that story to the industry.”
