Yahoo Launches Phase 2 Of Major Ad CampaignYahoo Launches Phase 2 Of Major Ad Campaign

The next phase of the "It's You" campaign is set to start May 18 and run throughout the year. The marketing push will feature ads on the Yahoo network, other Websites, television, cinema lobbies and on the entertainment videos shown on airplanes.

Yahoo announced its plans late Wednesday on its corporate blog. In March, Yahoo Chief Executive Carol Bartz told reporters the company had spent between $15 million and $25 million on the first phase of the campaign, according to Reuters news agency. The next phase will be led by the ad agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners. Ogilvy & Mather handled the initial launch.

Yahoo announced the ad campaign last September, saying it would promote the company brand by focusing on "You." Such personalization of Web services and other businesses led Time Magazine in 2006 to name the individual "Person of the Year."

According to a video previewing the second phase of the campaign, Yahoo plans to market the services on its site that people can choose to have the portal deliver services tailored to the preferences of individuals. The video also takes a thinly veiled dig at Google by commenting on homepages where "there's nothing to look at but a box and button."

"When you look at this homepage nothing looks back at you," the video says. "You come to this place so you can leave."

Along with Internet and TV ads, the campaign will include setting up interactive screens in the lobbies of movie theaters, where people can try Yahoo by searching for restaurants after a show.

Yahoo launched the campaign last year six months after naming a new chief marketing officer. Elisa Steele, who served as senior VP of corporate marketing at NetApp, oversees Yahoo's brand and global marketing strategy.

Yahoo enters the new phase of its ad campaign as the latest numbers showed a decline in April of 2.6% in unique visitors to 155.6 million, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, total page views dropped 11.4%. During the same month, rivals Microsoft, Google and Facebook saw increases in visitors and page views.