Yahoo! ups ante on online advertising

The portal hopes to challenge agencies by running a series of creative workshops for the online advertising industry, which has suffered from a perceived lack of creative input.

"We hope to help them [agencies] unlock this potential and drive creativity online," said Fru Hazlitt, managing director for Yahoo! UK & Ireland.

"The tide is already turning, however, and we're beginning to witness major brands, such as Sony, Nestlé and Nissan using online as an effective branding tool, but our workshops will truly throw down the gauntlet to agencies."

The workshops, which begin this month, follow on from Yahoo!'s Creative Summit, held earlier this year and also similar creative showcases spearheaded by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

The £30,000 of media space on Yahoo! UK & Ireland will be given out at the first workshop in mid-November and will then go to the best online creative concept for a current traditional campaign.