Yahoo and Panic

November 19, 2009

ZDNet’s “Yahoo’s Dwindling Search Share: Time to Panic?” is a blend of business analysis and technology. Toss in Yahoo and there is an element of the carnival because Yahoo has put on quite a show for advertisers, customers, and stakeholders. ZDNet said:

Yahoo is in a dangerous limbo here. Yahoo’s search team is more likely to be focused on sending resumes than advancing the ball. Advertisers are holding out for the deal to close before picking sides and they’re likely to go to the alpha male in the Microhoo deal—Microsoft. And the biggest problem: Google isn’t standing still.

Spot on. I wonder if this analysis is coming too late for Yahoo? Let me answer my own question. “Yes.” Yahoo will be a case study in many MBA classes. “One day Terry Semel sat in his office and dreamed of making Yahoo into a media company…” You know how this business case unfolds. Business case studies are not news; they are in the rear view mirror of some folks.

Stephen Arnold, November 19, 2009

I disclose the the Securities and Exchange Commission that no one paid me to offer this comment. I may get a free lunch from another company today, but that outfit is mostly indifferent to the drama that is Yahoo.

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under Financial, News, Online (general), Search, Technology, Yahoo

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.