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Yahoo says the system, known as Amp, will offer a suite of tools offering geographic, demographic, and interest-based targeting across a vast network of Yahoo sites and specialist destinations such as WebMD, Forbes, the major ad networks, and thousands of smaller sites.

Yahoo also claims Amp will simplify the process of buying and selling online advertisements by allowing individual sites to sell advertisements across the web, rather

While the strategy remains in its early stages, the advertising platform is one of the products which Yahoo believes will help propel its next wave of growth. It's also a significant factor behind Yahoo's reluctance to accept Microsoft $42.4 billion bid, which executives believe undervalues the company's assets.

Microsoft has now given Yahoo three weeks to respond to its bid before it takes it direct to the shareholders.

Amp is also a response to Google and Microsoft, which have each acquired major competitors in the market for sales of online display ads used by corporate brand marketers.

Google closed its $3.4 billion acquisition of ad sales management firm DoubleClick last month, while Microsoft paid $6 billion for aQuantive last May.