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M$2 March 01, 2009 01:06 AM

Opinions on the Yahoo shakeup.....

Since I am asking for opinions, I will award the best answer a M$2.00 tip; as well I will tip M$1.00 to the next three best answers also.

How do you see this affecting Yahoo? Good,bad, indifferent? Is this the move that will bring Yahoo to finally compete with Google?

Besides pushing CFO Blake Jorgensen out the door, the overhaul will expand the responsibilities of Yahoo's chief technology officer, Ari Balogh, and the company's top advertising executive in the United States, Hilary Schneider.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/yahoo-gets-massive-management-shakeup-1633873.html
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tko tko
 
March 01, 2009 02:08 AM
I think a bit of new blood in prime positions should hopefully generate a bit of enthusiasm for what Yahoo is capable of. (Like most things, the devils in the details ..there's nothing to stop them screwing this up.) ;)

I don't think there's a huge danger to Yahoo even if they can't compete with Google. Internet and search revenue is so so huge, even a small fraction of the search/ad online pie is big money. Yahoo may never reach its former glory, but they can remain quite comfortable, and viable with even a tiny slice of that internet pie. (Might not make the shareholders rich ..but Yahoo should never be poor, at least.)

IMHO the biggest uncertain factor these days is Microsoft. Deals with Microsoft can very well be a deal with the devil. Many companies have been chewed up and spat out by them before. Microsoft just wants to be big in search. Not sure why, it's not one of their competencies, and they've lost much money chasing that dream on their own. I suspect they're just chasing the money, and are possibly suffering Google envy.

Yahoo does have some quite loyal customers though, through both their e-mail and search. They'll have to really screw up to lose those people. And they're a captive ad market.

So yeah, I think this shake-up will be good. I expect Yahoo to do okay in the long term. Maybe not brilliant, but certainly okay. I don't think a lack of finances will ever be a problem. IMHO the real danger is Microsoft.
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March 01, 2009 01:26 AM
I don't think Yahoo could do anything to even remotely catch up to Google these days, they've just fallen too behind. A restructuring was in order, so I think now would be as good of a time as any to shake things up at Yahoo. The most they could do is at least provide the semblance of competition and drive the other search engines to be better at what they do.

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March 01, 2009 01:27 AM
It seems that Yahoo has been struggling a while longer than the rest of the economy with their stocks and such, and now they've decided to give everything a shake, all the way to the top. Before, they just shuffled lower level executives, but now they are going to try changing around some high post jobs. This has already had a slightly positive affect on Yahoo, and I believe that it will continue to help them. In the current recession, investors look for companies that are using new and innovative strategies, and this appears to be what Yahoo! is doing. This is probably there attempt at that magic bullet to solve their problems and get them back on the right track to growth. However, I don't think this is the kind of move that will bring them to the point where they can compete with Google. Google is still expanding, and there's no reason for it to slow down. It also provides numerous services, such as Gmail and iGoogle, but then again, so does Yahoo. In the end though, Google will most likely maintain a significantly larger portion of the search engine market by virtue of having previously been in control of it. I don't think that changing around the infrastructure of Yahoo will convince to people that Yahoo is better than Google.

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March 01, 2009 01:38 AM
I don't think that this could bring Yahoo! into competition with Google, but it will most likely help Yahoo! by, at the very least, giving the appearance of big things happening.

However, Yahoo! has a major lag behind Google as a search engine, and I don't see a management swap changing that.

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March 01, 2009 01:44 AM
Well, I personally think that this will have no change. If anything, I see Yahoo declining - CEO Carol Bartz came to the job with zero Internet experience. Also, does this mean that Yahoo is less likely to be bought out by Microsoft, which looks to be the way that they're going?

Personally, I think that it's just business as usual. One guy doesn't work, hire another. That guy doesn't work, fire him. Then fire the other guy.

It's a bit weird though because Jorgensen has only been on the job for a year.

HOWEVER, what I really am excited about is the little footnote at the end where they said that Yahoo is creating a complaints department.

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March 01, 2009 04:39 AM
I want to love Yahoo. They were here first ( at least in my web surfing experience ). They had the best commercials in the 90's and got people excited about the Internet. I want to root for them in the same way I want to root for coca cola ever since they wanted to teach the world to sing.

So....

I think this will help Yahoo but it won't bring them up to Google status. Google has a clear clean message that is easy to use. When I use my Yahoo account sometimes I get their new homepage sometimes I get their old layout. It is cluttered and a little disjointed having the various looks out there. I have two accounts - one that I have given to my family and close friends and one that I have given out to everyone else. Somehow one of them got hooked up with Yahoo UK which is an entirely other thing.

Yahoo has alot to offer but until they can give their users the power to easily participate then they will fall far behind google.

Adsense is super easy to use. I'm not even using Yahoo's version if there even is one.

C'mon Yahoo! You can do it! Go Team! ( I still use google about twice as much but I'm rooting for Yahoo too ).

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March 01, 2009 06:29 AM
1. Everything is becoming free. Search engines are free for the users. Profit generators for the search engines which have morphed into advertising and market businesses. Yahoo has 500 million worldwide users. If Yahoo and Google combined, the combination would have moved strongly against Microsoft position, in a fast to become the dominate search engine market.
2. Ms Bartz is understood to have been chosen for her history running public companies, having been at the helm of software company Autodesk, where she remains executive chairman, for 14 years until 2006. Does Yahoo want to sale its company? Is Bartz the right person to sale the company?
3. When Yang rejected Microsoft $31 per share sale price, investors bet that Yang tenture was over. Microsoft needed Yahoo market position to compete against Google. Carol Bartz appointment look like a move to reposition and cooperative gesture.
3. Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo for $47.5 billion or $33 per share, well above $19.18. Investors were fustrate. Steve Ballmer talking about Barz, said, "We now have someone in place running our online business and Yahoo's out looking for a CEO. If a search deal is to be made, it's probably to be made in the interim period for new leaders in both places"
4. Bartz has no experience running an internet company. Elisa Steele, who has been working at NetApp will join Yahoo. NetApp is considered the Best Internet company in America to work for according to Forbes.
5. Yang said, "They chose to walk away after we put a price on the table, and they didn’t want to negotiate", Yang price was $37, a share. The Price of $37 demonstrated an inflexiblity to find the right price. Yang believed Yahoo was worth more than $33 a share. Why? Yang said "brand and audience", "financial strength", "technology" and "strategic investment" put Yahoo in a leadership position and market opportunity was worth more than $33 a share. Yang believed Yahoo worth $40 a share or $56 billion. Microsoft disagreed about price, but Yahoo did not budge. Wall Street wanted a sale. Microsoft unsolitated offer would not force Yahoo into a sale. Microsoft felt that Yang was not flexible in adjusting price. Ballmer said, "It is clear Yahoo did not want to sell its business".
6. Should Yahoo have remained a private company? A private company would not be subject to the pressure imposed by shareholders. If a CEO does not please the shareholders he is replaced with a CEO who will listen to the shareholder interests. Yangs rejection of $33 a share raised questions by shareholder, if Yang was the right man to run Yahoo.
7. The primary criticism was the Yang lacked skills to negotiate the sale of Yahoo. The internet company dream is too build a great company and then sale it for a 62 percent premium price.
8. "Had Yahoo lost its competitive edge?" Bad Luck? Under pressure from regulators over antitrust concerns, Google backed out of the advertising deal - $250 million to $450 million in additional cash flow. Google would deliver ads next to some of Yahoo’s search results and on some of its Web sites in the United States and Canada. When the government threatened to sue and the deal was off, Yang said, "It's disappointing to us that Google didn't want to defend this deal," Once Google joint venture with Yahoo ended, Microsoft declared it was no longer interested in purchasing Yahoo.
9. Will AOL and Yahoo merge?

In summary, the leadership shift will not be significant because Google and Yahoo have not joined force. Bartz will not transform Yahoo. Yahoo profits are still declining. It is sad to see Yang be forced to depart. I wish Yahoo had remained a private company. So many employees helped build this great company and to loss to the pressures of the shareholder does not seem right.
Source(s):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23150188


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