Yahoo has rolled out a new marketplace for selling banner advertisements. The 'Apt' system will link prospective advertisers with some 784 sites from local newspapers.

The service will make it easier for ad-buyers to connect with the sites and place targeted banner ads, according to Yahoo.

The company hopes that the new system will make it even easier for advertisers to pinpoint local audiences and markets as well as track ads which are already running.

Apt has been around in various forms since 2006. The programme was previously known as 'Amp' and 'Project Apex'. In that time, it has grown from 176 newspapers to some 35 major media companies and 784 local newspapers.

Yahoo chief executive and co-founder Jerry Yang was anything but modest in his predictions for the new service.

"I started dreaming about this day 18 months ago when I laid out my vision for our board of directors on how Yahoo could play a unique role in changing the face of online advertising," said Yang.

"In fact, Sue [Decker] and I called it Nirvana at the time, a platform that would be to 2009 what radio was to 1924, TV to 1947, colour TV to 1965, and the internet to 1993."

The move builds on an advertising business that has been vital in keeping Yahoo afloat in recent years.

The company's reach within the search and web markets was the main reason for Microsoft's courtship of Yahoo earlier this year, and its continued growth is seen as vital in Yang's efforts to justify rebuffing Microsoft.