If you’ve ever picked up an issue of Vogue, Brides or other high fashion magazine, you’ll notice something astonishing: it’s mostly advertising. This is surprising for a number of reasons. If any other magazine tried to do it, it would lead to reader complaint. Instead, the readers of those magazines seem to value the ads, as they are often fashion spreads that are hard to differentiate from editorial content. Secondly, you’d probably be surprised that a print magazine is continuing to thrive in today’s digital environment.

Clearly, this class of magazine is able to do something few other industries can: use advertising content in a way that compels readers. Yahoo CEO Melissa Mayer recently noted that she admires the way the fashion industry has been able to pull this off.

“The ads in those magazines are as interesting as the photo shoots and the articles," she said in a recent interview with The New York Times at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters. "I miss the ads when they are not there. I feel less fulfilled."

Image via Shutterstock

Mayer says she hopes to try and replicate that ad experience with Yahoo going forward. The company is already mixing sponsored recipes in with related editorial content to form part of its recent Yahoo Food venture. It’s to be part of the company’s rebirth as a force to be reckoned with (by Google (News - Alert), presumably) in online advertising on both the fixed and mobile Web, rather than a company for whom banner ads was once as sophisticated as it got.

"We're not sure that a list of links that people have to pick through is the right experience on the phone, and we're going to start to play with context, applications, other ways to address those search needs," Mayer said.

Analysts note that the company will have its work cut out for it if it hopes to compete with the likes of Google, Facebook (News - Alert) and even Twitter. Mayer is currently overseeing Yahoo’s advertising program after relieving Henrique de Castro of his duties after declaring last month that he was “not a fit” for Yahoo. The firing was seen as a move to rid the company of an executive who drew a large paycheck yet still saw Yahoo ad revenue declining last year.