Yahoo! Inc., a leading global Internet company today announced a significant investment of over 35% in Tyroo Media Pvt. Ltd. Based in Gurgaon, India, Tyroo, a part of Smile Interactive Technologies Group (Smile Group), is a completely self-serve ad-network offering best of breed advertising solutions for both advertisers and publishers. Today, Tyroo boasts of over 1200 registered publishers across the country.

George Zacharias, Managing Director – Yahoo! India, said, “We are happy to partner with Tyroo as it gears towards gaining significant market share in the Indian online advertising industry. Through this investment, Yahoo! will act as a catalyst for the entire ad-network industry in India which is still in a nascent stage. It will also signify our increasing focus in Indian online advertising networks.”

The investment is expected to enable Tyroo to access Yahoo!’s knowledge of the Internet advertising business and help Tyroo create a platform for scalable growth.

The cash infusion by Yahoo! will be used to invest aggressively in technology and sales network to reach out to the vast number of small and medium sized advertisers and publishers in India. Tyroo plans on offering newer ad-formats, enhanced customer support and greater flexibility to advertisers and publishers in managing campaigns. Tyroo plans on differentiating itself by its knowledge of local requirements and on-ground support in both pre and post-campaign phases. As part of its expansion plans, Tyroo expects to set up sales offices across the country and triple the team size by the end of this year. In connection with this investment, Yahoo! Inc will be represented on the board of the company.

Harish Bahl, CEO, Smile Group, said, “It gives me great pride that Yahoo!, one of the leaders in the online media, technology and advertising space, has invested in our business. The global knowledge and experience that Yahoo! brings will help us scale our business. The funding raised will be used to further enhance our ad-serving technology, build a world-class team, and gain market share through reaching out to hitherto untapped advertisers and publishers in India. The investment by Yahoo! is an indicator of the confidence which they have reposed in the Tyroo team and its vision for growth.”

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About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo!’s mission is to connect people to their passions, their communities and world’s knowledge. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

About Yahoo! India

Yahoo! India (www.yahoo.co.in), launched in June 2000, has established itself as the pioneering and leading Internet portal providing value added services for Web users in India and users abroad with special interest in India. Yahoo! India seeks to provide online products and services essential to users' lives, and offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users globally. It presents a deep array of communications, commerce and content services.

About Tyroo.com

Tyroo Media Pvt. Ltd. (TMPL) is the largest self-serve Indian ad-network to have its own world class technology. Its pay for performance contextual advertising network, provides a unique platform for advertisers (who want to reach targeted users) and for publishers (who want to monetize their online inventory) to come together and do business. It was commercially launched for the Internet in June 2006 in response to favorable market conditions. Internet because of its vastness has very limited platforms that can take the advertisers message to all small and big websites in the most targeted fashion. Tyroo solves this problem by offering compelling solutions to advertisers and publishers. One of the most exciting features of this self-serve model is that anyone who has a website or a blog can generate advertising revenue by registering at Tyroo which then enables targeted advertising being served of hundreds of Tyroo advertisers.