Yahoo is launching an outdoor ad blitz in the US to promote its mobile products

Yahoo is not letting bad memories deter it from an outdoor marketing blitz.

The Internet company has begun plastering ads for its service throughout San Francisco and in several other US markets.

The new ads appear to have begun popping up on bus stops, billboards and even elevator screens in the last few days.

A Yahoo spokesperson declined to comment on the marketing campaign, including how much money Yahoo is spending, other than to provide a statement that "at Yahoo, we are constantly exploring opportunities to connect with and engage our users. We are currently running advertising in select US markets."

Some readers may recall that Yahoo launched a big marketing campaign in 2009 when Carol Bartz was CEO. The company spent $100 million on the campaign based around the "It's You" tagline.

The ads failed to increase Yahoo's market share or its revenue and Yahoo eventually fired its ad agency.

Bartz later acknowledged that the campaign didn't really have "a good call to action," and then spent an additional $75 million to $85 million on another marketing campaign that also failed to revive the company's fortunes.

The new ads take a bare bones approach. There are no pictures of putative Yahoo users doing happy things, or clever catchphrases. In fact, the ads show nothing but the Yahoo logo on a purple background with the words "for mobile" appended in very small letters at the bottom, alongside the logos for the Apple and Google app stores.

Boosting Yahoo's mobile business has been a major focus of CEO Marissa Mayer, who took the reins in 2012.

The company will provide an update on its mobile efforts and its overall business next Tuesday when it reports its second quarter financial results. Perhaps Yahoo will also provide some details about the goals and the budget of this latest marketing push.