Yahoo, Adobe to put adverts in PDF documents

in brief Yahoo and Adobe are set to launch a free service to help publishers make money on their Adobe PDF content by automatically inserting advertisements into the PDFs from Yahoo's network of online advertisers.

Publishers do not need to install any software to use the service, instead they simply upload their PDF content to ad-enable it before distribution. When the PDF is read, advertisements chosen to match the content of the document are displayed in an adjacent panel in Adobe Acrobat.

The publishers receive money for the advertisements on a pay-per-click basis. According to Yahoo, the service benefits small publishers as it allows them to make money on their PDFs without the traditional time consuming process of finding advertisers and sponsors for content.

The new service -- which requires Adobe Acrobat 8.1 to work -- could lead to readers having access to more free content "enhanced" with advertisements that "match their interest", according to the Yahoo-Adobe team. "We are creating opportunities for publishers to build new businesses around unique content that previously was just given away or not available to a mass online audience," Rob Tarkoff, a senior VP at Adobe said in a statement.