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Yahoo changes banner ads to show real people instead of models

Instead of the super-hot models we are used to seeing in the Yahoo Personals banner ads, they are being replaces by "real people".

In focus groups organized to help us better understand our customers, participants told us that using actual Yahoo! Personals subscribers, rather than models, in advertising increased the likelihood that they would subscribe. When asked, our customers overwhelmingly agreed they would rather see actual subscribers -- people they could really meet and date -- rather than artificial photos with models.

Having looked at the new ads, I agree that these people are certainly not as good looking as the models they used to use.

posted January 13, 2004