Its believed that Yahoo! first introduced a stand-alone search advertising buy. In 1996, Chip Royce, head of online marketing for InterZine Productions of Boca Raton, Florida, approached Yahoo!'s sales agent (Softbank Interactive Media Sales) seeking more effective, targeted advertising within Yahoo!'s search results. Yahoo! obliged placing targeted ad banners when the keyword "Golf" was searched by Yahoo! users. Yahoo! later turned this opportunity into a formal marketing program for its entire customer base and promoted this in a July 1996 article in the now defunct magazine.
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