Yahoo Cranks Out a Beyond Search Quote to Note
January 4, 2011
Yikes, more Yahoo drama. You can read the scoop on the layoffs in some “real” publications like this one. Here’s the statement from the top Yahooligan, Carol Bartz that I have selected as a quote to note:
…it’s no secret that we’re cutting investment in underperforming and non-core products so we can focus on our strengths (like email, the homepage, search, mobile, advertising, content and more).
Okay, search. Yowza.
Stephen E Arnold, January 4, 2010
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Yahoo and a Not So Merry Holiday
December 15, 2010
I am burned out on Yahoo. I did my first Yahoo analysis in 2002, and the company bored me then. I found the Semel and Yang escapades amusing. I even perked up when the Yahooligans made a commitment to search and then generated results for my test queries that left me baffled. Even the new US Department of Treasury search system looks good when compared to Yahoo’s results. For a test, open a new browser window, click on the shopping tab, and do a search for “Angel perfume.” You don’t need the quotes. Here are the first two results. Remember. I want to buy a bottle of perfume.
The hit under the pictures has this headline: “Angel Perfume Is Dangerous.” Click on the link. I get a weird animated page with the title “Clarins and Thierry Mugler Acknowledges that Angel Perfume Is Dangerous.” Great information if I were doing this search on a general Web index: “’Angel perfume danger.” I am not. I want to buy perfume.
This is an example of Yahoo’s search. I hope the Yahoo ad sales people don’t pitch the Angel perfume account. This query is not what I expected. I want to buy the perfume, not learn that it, like any similar substance, will burn or kill me if I drink it. Buy is the operative concept. Run the query on Google Shopping and you get links to buy perfume. The Math Club gets it right. The Yahooligans do not.
“Yahoo Still Silent On Today’s Layoffs, But Employees Vent” did not amuse me. In fact, it forced me think about the trajectory of online services companies. When money is flowing, there is no investment in managing the business. When times get tough, management becomes a tough problem. In fact, some online companies may be unmanageable. Google’s solution is to manage by controlled chaos. After more than a decade of “controlled chaos,” Google is starting to show some signs of strain. I mean two operating systems plus the Google infrastructure, the Buzz thing, the Wave thing, the hassle with every offended Street View weak sister, et al.
Here’s the killer quote from the TechCrunch article cited above:
The atmosphere here has never been worse.
That will keep the blue chip folks busy. Will Yahoo survive? Will a white knight ride to rescue the Yahooligans? Will AOL cut a deal that makes 1 + 1 = 3?
Not sure. What is clear to me is that first AOL lost its way, now Yahoo. The question is, “Which big online outfit is next?”
Stephen E Arnold, December 15, 2010
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What Yahoo Users Needed to Know in 2010
December 5, 2010
When a search giant such as Google hints that it knows what users want, I often bristle. Then after i read such articles as “Yahoo’s Top Mobile Searches of 2010 Reveal Mobile’s Real-Time Nature,” I think Google may be right. In my work, I am not . sure what I will be researching from one day to the next. I poked around for a Victor Bout sidekick. I probed the fat underbelly of health fraud. I followed links on RedTram that delivered me to surprising Web sites.
However, I have never run a query for the topics highlighted in this Yahoo centric write up about mobile search topics in 2010. I knew I was old and clueless, but my cluelessness cannot be remediated by these topics:
BP oil spill
World Cup
Miley Cyrus
Kim Kardashian
Lady Gaga
iPhone
Megan Fox
Justin Bieber
American Idol
Britney Spears.
Who is Justin Bieber? I don’t think he works at Google. And Kim Kardashian? Perhaps she is on the staff at Brookhaven National Lab.
Scary and enlightening simultaneously. And what does this list tell me about Yahoo’s users? Just that I don’t want to sit next to one on a long, international flight.
Stephen E Arnold, December 5, 2010
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Is Clever a Way to Cheat in the Page Display Race?
December 5, 2010
“Google and Microsoft Cheat on Slow Start. Should You?” explores how big Web players speed their page load times. Fascinating stuff. Google has tried to make speed one of its distinguishing characteristics. I did not know that Google “cheated” by ignoring certain Internet conventions. The assertion is interesting and triggers in my mind some thoughts about how Google’s corporate culture operates.
Here’s the passage that I thought was interesting with regard to the speed up trick and suggestive about Google’s approach to problems it finds “frustrating”.
The Google engineers on the mailing list have taken on a more frustrated tone recently, so it’s possible that they decided the best way to make forward progress was to just turn it on and see whether the internet actually melts down or not. It’s also possible that I happen to part of an ongoing test that they’re running.
My view is that the Math Club crowd assumes it is better to day “we’re sorry” instead of fooling around with troublesome and annoying work processes that involve other humans, often not in the Math Club.
In my opinion, I do not think Google’s “let’s do it anyway” approach is confined to this single instance. Try explaining this technical issue to your local elected official.
Stephen E Arnold, December 4, 2010
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Yahoo Alert Oddity: Files Search
October 25, 2010
I still receive a couple of Yahoo Alerts. On Saturday, October 23, 2010, I reviewed an alert pushed to me on Friday at 11 24 pm. What struck me as peculiar were two hot links to a search service billed as RapidShare but resolved to “Files Search”.
When I clicked on the link, I was sent to the Web site http://www.clminnovacion.com. The specific link for the hit was a more complex url that resisted url shaving. Click this link to see the hit in my Yahoo Alert. From one of my disposable computers, I tried to download a file and was then redirected to Express Downloads. When attempting the download, the system displayed a page for me to select a server near me. A click on the purple download button displayed this page:
The system asked for my credit card. I did qualify for a $2.49 promotional membership. My special offer expires on October 24, 2010. The service for Express Downloads seems to be operating from the US.
No big deal when these types of “search” sites pop up in a Bing.com or Google.com query. The hits in a Yahoo Alert struck me as somewhat unusual. My hunch is that the Microsoft/Yahoo system interpreted the Files Search module as “enterprise search” and happily provided me with a pointer to a service that does little to reassure me.
Well, the new Yahoo. Close enough for horseshoes and a site that some copyright mavens may want to explore.
Stephen E Arnold, October 25, 2010
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What Yahoo Is All About
October 21, 2010
I thought Yahoo was a portal based on a directory that was relevant in the mid 1990s. Wrong again. “Yahoo! Boss Blames Revenue Dip on Better Bing” set me straight:
“Yahoo! is an innovative technology company that operates the largest digital media content and communications business in the world,” Bartz [top Yahooligan] said. “The key words here are innovative technology, media, content, and communications. That’s what we’re all about.
Let me think this statement through. Yahoo reported flat revenues and a profit jump. The pump up came not from “innovative technology, media, content, and communications.” Nope. Yahoo sold HotJobs.
The categorical affirmative “all” can be stretched to cover the sale of assets, but I would prefer something more in line with the phrase “innovative technology, media, content, and communications.” And search? Outsourced. Just a thought from rural Kentucky.
Stephen E Arnold, October 21, 2010
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Yahoo Is Tired, Miserable
October 19, 2010
That’s one way to characterize the outfit that blew off Microsoft and $45 billion. I was thinking of a different word, but I am not a professional newspaper info thing. Point your browser at “Yahoo Used to Be a Giant. Now It’s Down to Its Last Hurrah”, please. Note this passage:
Will somebody please put Yahoo, the fading internet star, out of its misery?
They shoot horses, don’t they? I quite like the reference to “fruity” as well. Sweet. Tangy. Not salty.
Stephen E Arnold, October 19, 2010
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More on the Yahoo Effort to Regain Supremacy
October 8, 2010
Having tasted the fruits of success, Yahoo wants to come back in the game. Thrusting this premier web brand forward isn’t easy even with some 281 million global users, and about 600 million monthly visitors, as Yahoo still needs to adjust its sails to the changing winds. The eCommerce-Guide.com article “Yahoo Plans New Search, Email as It Speeds Release Cycle,” discloses the company’s plans and strategies to be the number one choice of users.
Yahoo uses Microsoft’s technology for its search engine’s underlying infrastructure, but it plans to change, innovate, and improve the user-facing layer by rolling out new features. It is also introducing a new email having, “streamlined inbox, boasting a faster response time and new integrations with social services Facebook and Twitter.” Yahoo is making all attempts “to impress its advertisers and retain customer loyalty with a swifter pace of innovation and more relevant, personalized content.” With a vision to bring personal meaning to the web, this is Yahoo’s fight back crusade. Will it work? With the unsettling information about staff change and alleged usage data that shows a decline in traffic, Yahoo may need an even greater commitment.
Harleena Singh, October 8, 2010
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The Yahoo Revolving Door
October 6, 2010
Yahoo has been struggling to rise back to the top of the Internet world but the company has made little headway in its fight to the top. Internal problems could be one of the reasons why the company has experienced little growth in the past few years. The Digital Journal article “Yahoo Loses Top Executives, CEO Carol Bartz Could Be Next” gives readers a glimpse into the problems the Yahoo family is experiencing. Several Yahoo executives have already stepped down and it seems that several more could be handing in their Yahoo membership. Media and advertising head Hilary Schneider, “has wanted to leave Yahoo for some time,” is expected to offer her resignation to CEO Carol Bartz, who has not won many fans of her own. Yahoo could be in store for even more rank changes, including the unpopular CEO Carol Bartz, as they attempt to turn their image around and get back on track. As the saying goes a team is only as strong as its leader.
April Holmes, October 6, 2010
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Yahoo and the Yahooligans
October 4, 2010
Five or six years ago, some addled outfit paid me to take a look at Yahoo, its search systems, and it plumbing. I did my thing, cooked up a report, and included a couple of PowerPoint slides to add levity to what was a quite grim report. As I recall, one of the PowerPoint foils featured a picture of the Titanic with Terry Semel as the captain of the ship. I got a chuckle, but the report had few highlights for stakeholders.
I have taken a casual interest in Yahoo since then. My own research indicated that it was a goner. I know that some of the folks who pay me for my opinions disagreed. I think the notion of a zooming Yahoo would yield some cash to my clients. Wrong. Nothing much flowed to these outfits, and with each organizational lurch, crazy decision like turning down real Microsoft money, and hiring a tough female executive to float the Yahooligans’ boat my original analysis was spot on.
Now I read “The Dream Is Collapsing: Another Massive Yahoo Re-Org Coming Next Tuesday.” I liked the write up, but my view is, “Tuesday. The collapse has taken place.” No amount of shuffling, puffing, and huffing will alter the fact that after a spectacular rise, Yahoo has become the poster child for the wind down of an online powerhouse.
There are three surprising aspects to Yahoo.
First, I am amazed at the fondness people have for the service. I still dump some old email into Yahoo Mail, but I find the system clunky. The search system often tells me I have no hits. I hate the multiple clicks it takes to see a list of what’s in the email queue. Nevertheless, there are people who like Yahoo. The news page is a stalwart for my father when he can manage to log on. Yahoo wants to kick him off the system and a 90 year old has a tough time logging in. Good thinking, Yahooligans. But he loves Yahoo.
Second, the search system has for a long, long time be worthless. I know that Yahoo has developed some experimental services. One feature little sliders which I found somewhat interesting. But the core search function has never been particularly helpful. The shopping service is a joke. I wanted to limit the search to only Yahoo Stores. I couldn’t figure out how to do it without turning cartwheels with a complex Google query. Yahoo shopping results remain deeply flawed despite efforts to change the service.
Third, I can’t find stuff available from Yahoo. The company does a lousy job of exposing its services. Now Google and Microsoft have similar problems, but of the three, Yahoo is in my opinion, unable to let me find specific Yahoo services. I created some links in a Yahoo bookmark service. Then I could never find that service again. I am not sure anyone at Yahoo knows what is available, nor is anyone particularly concerned with providing a directly to Yahoo itself. Directory. Remember, Yahooligans? That was your core service.
Finally, have you ever tried to locate some of the innovative work done with various Yahoo tools? Well, I have. I have written about Cluuz.com, which at one time, made Yahoo results quite useful. I have stumbled across others, but Yahoo cannot find a way to provide one click access to developers’ work that showcases Yahoo. I think this is not just indifference. I don’t think anyone at Yahoo knows about much other than what is in front of them at this moment. The culture that bought companies and left to their own devices is still intact. A shift to Microsoft management won’t make much difference because the DNA of the company is in the carpet and cubicles I think.
So is Yahoo a goner? Some pundits want AOL to buy Yahoo or Yahoo to buy AOL. My view right now is that there is no easy, simple solution. Tuesday is already here for Yahoo I think.
Stephen E Arnold, October 4, 2010
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