• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 3, 2011

Even before the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers meet on the football field this Sunday, advertisers will tap Yahoo to buy and run ads related to Super Bowl XLV.

Leading up to the Super Bowl, TurboTax takes a spot on the Yahoo home page for the third consecutive year. The ad will integrate with Super Bowl content. The History Channel will run an ad for its show "Only in America" with Larry the Cable Guy pre-Super Bowl on Yahoo Sports from Feb. 3 through Feb. 11.

Months in advance of the Super Bowl, History purchased 50% of the inventory on Yahoo's NFL home page, as well as 100% of the inventory on Yahoo Sports' original columns and articles. It will run display ad units promoting the new series, according to Mitch Spolan, vice president of North American field sales at Yahoo.

Spolan declined to discuss the brand that took the log-in page for Super Bowl Sunday, except to say it's a consumer products-goods company. Nor would he share the cost for the ad units.

Yahoo Sports in February 2010 had more than 39 million unique visitors, representing a 21.3% increase, sequentially. Today, Yahoo's home page reaches 38 million people daily: and the log-in page, 20 million.

Last year, the home page of Yahoo Sports turned into a shower curtain that slid open to find New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, the most valuable player in last year's Super Bowl, taking a shower surrounded by soap bubbles.

Leading up to the Super Bowl, fans want to know the strategy, the favorite picks, status of players' health and how will it impact the game. During the game, fans will follow stats on Yahoo Sports and Yahoo Mobile. Afterwards, fans may want to read post-game interviews, check out still photos, etc.

Game-time ads continue to draw brands. A $3 million investment for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl might seem a bit steep for some, although most brands deem it worth every penny. Even Groupon, the daily deals coupon site that recently raised $950 million in venture-capital funding, secured an ad spot on TV for Sunday's Super Bowl XLV. Audi, Best Buy, Bridgestone, Skechers and HomeAway are other brands that fans are likely to see.

Aside from TV, brands will move social media to the front seat in this year's Super Bowl. The NFL partnered with Twitter and Visa to create a social media site -- sbtwitter.nfl.com --tracking tweets from players, media and fans.

The site supports video and highlights of player-related trends for both the Steelers and the Packers. The @packers use Facebook and Twitter to update fans, driving traffic to Packers.com. Similarly, @steelers relies on the same social tools.