Welcome!

Since its inception, the Web has grown from a few hundred academic sites to millions of publishers across the globe. Wikis and blogs are making publishers out of everyone, while RSS is allowing individuals to reach wider audiences. In this environment of growth, services and applications like Yahoo! Answers, del.icio.us and Flickr are allowing people to form instantaneous communities of interest to connect and share insights as never before. These new platforms, services and technologies are truly transforming the web in new and exciting ways.

Last fall we joined this revolution by launching the Yahoo! Publisher Network self-serve platform, providing a trusted and valuable network for consumers, advertisers, developers and publishers. Our initial release has enabled publishers of all sizes to sign up for Yahoo! advertising products and receive fast, easy access to other syndicated Yahoo! content and products. Through this effort we have developed thousands of publisher relationships.

Yahoo! Publisher Network Team Members give the Sign of the Fying Y! To meet key Team Members, click on the photo.

As a member of the Yahoo! Publisher Network, you’re also a part of Yahoo!, with all the benefits this entails. In addition to allowing you to earn revenue by placing advertisements in your Web content and RSS Feeds, Yahoo! also enables you to enhance your user’s experiences and grow you site through dozens of services and applications.

While Yahoo! and the web may be still in its “adolescence,” by comparison, the Yahoo! Publisher Network self-serve platform is really in its infancy. After all, we’re still calling this a beta product, and for the time being, our advertising products are only available in the U.S.

Even so, this is not just a test. We are passionate about building relationships with publishers, delivering outstanding service and an industry-leading experience. And we will continue to make improvements and roll out additional features throughout the beta period.

To help deliver upon this experience and create an ongoing dialogue with our customers, we are excited to launch the Yahoo! Publisher Network blog. YPNblog.com will help you get the most out of Yahoo! and the Yahoo! Publisher Network. Visit frequently–or better yet–add it to your My Yahoo! page or your RSS feeds to get up-to-date information, tips, advice and stories about publishers just like you.

But please be assured that this is a two-way street. We want you to engage with us to shape current and future products and services that we deliver.

In the near future you’re going to see a lot of exciting changes on the Web and at Yahoo! We look forward to partnering with you to influence and drive this destiny.

Will Johnson, VP and General Manager, Yahoo! Publisher Network

What the blog will cover

We know that for the Yahoo! Publisher Network to be successful, publishers need to be successful, too. So we started the Yahoo! Publisher Network blog to:

• Give publishers – you folks – a voice in the evolution of the Yahoo! Publisher Network and its products.
• Build a place where you can come and learn about the latest updates and enhancements to the Network
• Showcase your work and your contributions to making Yahoo! Publisher Network what is today – and to what it will become tomorrow
• Provide a community space where you can learn from other publishers how to be a better one yourself

But whether you’re a signed-up publisher in the beta program or a publisher not yet a part of the Network, we think you’ll benefit from hearing about the latest news, trends and topics of conversation in the web publishing field.

While our format is typically blog-like – central posts on topics of the day in reverse chronological order, comments, trackbacks, tags, and the rest – we have also added some pretty cool features. You’ll notice, for example, our Publisher Spotlight feature. Each week we’ll choose a publisher who is doing something groovy or out of the ordinary and link to his or her site. Do you know a publisher who fits that description? Maybe it’s you. Send us your nominations.

In addition, we’ll be posting interviews and profiles of successful publishers so you can learn from their experience and find out about best practices, top tips and tricks of the trade you can use. We’ll also feature guest columns by noted publishers, industry leaders, thinkers and futurists designed to help you see ahead to where the Web – and your market – is going.

Each week we’ll be pointing to, tagging, and commenting on the most poignant industry news, conversations on the boards, as well as talking about the latest plug-ins, ad-ons and hacks to keep you up to date and your site up to par. 

In short, this blog is designed to help you get the most out of publishing – and out of your relationship with Yahoo! and Yahoo! Publisher Network – as well us to help us build better products. We hope you enjoy the blog and find it useful. We think you will.

Michael Mattis, Yahoo! Publisher Network Blog Editor