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Adobe, Yahoo! Launch Ad-based PDF Test Program

by , 9:25 AM EST, November 29th, 2007

Adobe and Yahoo! announced on Thursday that they have teamed up to bring ads to PDF documents. The opt-in service for online commercial publishers is in a beta testing phase now, but promises to generate additional revenue by adding contextually appropriate ads to PDFs.

The advertisements Yahoo! plans on providing will be text-based, and will appear next to PDF content and not in-line. Adobe claims the ability to offer ads along side PDF content will also potentially allow publishers to offer more content for free.

Publishers that participate in the ad program must upload their PDFs to a special Adobe site where they will be encoded to include appropriate advertising. Once encoded, viewers will see ads that not only relate to the content they are reading, but are timely as well.

Participation in the Adobe PDF Powered by Yahoo! program is free. Additional information is available at the Yahoo! Web site and the Adobe Labs Web site.

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Close Name:jimothy Posts: 567 Joined: 04 Jun 2004
Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:19 am Subject: Actually, not a terrible idea

When I read the headline, I thought this sounded horrible. I recalled the "BUY ACROBAT!" buttons that flashed in earlier versions of Acrobat/Adobe Reader (maybe they're still there; I use Preview). If the ads are tasteful, and not distracting (e.g., no animated sheep enticing me to take out a mortgage), if it does lead to more people releasing content for free, it could be a plus.

Consider, for example, the Take Control of... series of eBooks, or other short, tutorial type documents. They seem good candidates for this means of distribution.

What I wonder, though, is what happens if you open them in a reader other that Adobe's. Do the ads display? Do the documents not open? It seems someone could/will develop a reader that suppresses the ads.


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View Name:Guest
Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:33 am Subject: Ad suppression
Close Name:jimothy Posts: 567 Joined: 04 Jun 2004
Thu Nov 29, 2007 11:44 am Subject: Thanks, Guest!

I guess I should have clicked the link and read about it, huh?

Here's something interesting from the FAQ:

"In the future, there will be support for additional ad formats including graphical display ads and rich media ads, as well as the ability to customize fonts, text and background colors."

So, the ads might not be annoying today, but they will be one day!


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Close Name:ireid2k Posts: 125 Joined: 07 Apr 2003
Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:13 pm Subject: Great. More spam . ..

Just think. When you open a copy of Harry Potter on your Apple Tablet to read to your kid, you see a BUNCH of ads enticing you to buy Harry Potter merchandise. . . nice more stuff to fight your way through. . . . Or just think you bought a book ant the book store and when you open it there are a bunch of pop ups that 'magically' appear advertising anything from shampoo to viagra (if its a romance novel!) lol wouldn't you be annoyed?


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Close Name:Sir Harry Flashman Posts: 580 Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Thu Nov 29, 2007 1:50 pm Subject: I would rather Adobe...

I would rather Adobe first fix Acrobat so that it works well with Leopard.

I understand the need for ads to help pay for content. We read MacObserver for free because of the ads and I do click through when I need to shop for something. It is just that many web sites are starting to look like casinos with all the blinking, colorful, and tacky ads.


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