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Yahoo to capitalize on ‘brand universe’

Janet Babin Jan 31, 2007

TEXT OF STORY

SCOTT JAGOW: Yahoo is hoping to make some bucks on popular TV shows and video games, even though Yahoo has nothing to do with those brands. From our Innovations Desk at North Carolina Public Radio, Janet Babin explains.


JANET BABIN: If you can’t go a week without knowing the latest plot lines on TV shows like Lost, or The Office, Yahoo thinks you’ll like some of its new websites.

The sites will focus on those shows and on popular games like Nintendo’s Wii. The websites will feature message boards, photos, and videos for fans.

Yahoo doesn’t have permission from the brands to create these sites, but Executive Editor David Berlind with ZDNet says any brand that turns Yahoo down could lose valuable online exposure.

DAVID BERLIND: Those are the rules of the Internet. You point to other things that are good and offer great content and when you do a good job of that people will come to your site, because they know you’re doing a very good job of filtering out the best information.

If Yahoo gets complaints about the new sites from brand owners, the company says it’ll take them down.

No launch date for the sites has been set.

I’m Janet Babin for Marketplace.

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