Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) told the world that it launched its new "Apt" online ad system a few days ago, but was anyone listening? Although Yahoo! called the new system revolutionary, that's also how many of us were pitched the "Project Panama" ad delivery system that turned out to be slightly evolutionary rather than highly revolutionary. What makes Apt different?

Apt is meant to bring intelligence and relevancy to display ads instead of simple text ads, which are Google, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG) strength and which have added billions to its coffers over the years. When I stopped using Yahoo! Mail years ago, it was because of those non-relevant, intrusive display ads about cheap mortgages, credit reports and other junk that had no relevance to my purchasing intentions. Apt is meant to change that.

First up will be participation by a consortium of newspapers, who have been hit hard in recent years as advertisers move their campaigns online and out of print. Apt will make the process of buying and selling display (graphical) ads as easy as any self-service system on the web, according to the company. It's about time -- Yahoo! has one of the largest user bases on the entire web, and making sure that all customer data is mapped in a way to provide relevant advertising was most likely a massive undertaking. That Yahoo! could deliver this after such a turbulent summer and with a slew of executives recently leaving is amazing. Now, we'll see if it's actually utilized by anyone who still believes in Yahoo!'s power.