The product also aims to give advertisers in Yahoo’s network a new channel with a web-like ability to track advertising metrics, and to give readers open access to PDF-based content that has been previously limited to paid subscribers.

For the ad product to work, publishers must register and upload their PDF file in order for it to be “ad-enabled.” Ads are displayed in Adobe Reader or Acrobat in an ad panel next to the actual content. Whenever the PDF is opened, the ad will be matched to the content. And “If the reader decides to print the newsletter on paper, the ads—which appear online on the side of the document—disappear,“ according to the Associated Press.

The Wall Street Journal said, “Until now, publishers could place ads in PDFs on their own, charging advertisers for static blocks of text or graphics that they would place in the document. But that meant the publishers had to sell the ads and lay them out on the page on their own. ... The revenue from the ad will be shared between the publisher, Adobe and Yahoo. The companies declined to give details on the revenue split.”

Source: paidContent.org