Experts agree: Yahoo is spread too thin
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(InfoWorld) - Industry observers are nodding in agreement at a scathing internal memo that calls for a major reorganization of Yahoo Inc. at a time when many say the Web portal has lost its edge and trails competitors large and small alike. Yahoo must stop spreading a thin layer of "peanut butter" across myriad opportunities and instead focus on key areas, improve upper-management accountability and reorganize, including an up to 20 percent headcount reduction, wrote Brad Garlinghouse, Yahoo's senior vice president of communications and communities. "The basic idea is very much on the mark and I'd expect Yahoo would try to respond and become more focused," says financial analyst Clayton Moran, a senior vice president at Stanford Group Company. However, he cautions that sharpening its focus will not be easy, given the portal's current structure. The confidential memo, which The Wall Street Journal obtained and posted on its Web site, says Yahoo lacks "a focused, cohesive vision" that has made it "reactive" and eager to be "everything to everyone." By reactive, Garlinghouse may have been referring to how Yahoo has seen nimble startups like MySpace, later acquired by News Corp., and YouTube, recently snapped up by Google Inc., become leaders in areas like social networking and online video sharing. Meanwhile, Yahoo continues to trail Google in Internet search. "We agree with the memo's point that Yahoo needs to be more focused and differentiate itself and build a brand in certain categories, as opposed to being one portal for all categories," Moran says, adding that Yahoo should identify the next hot Internet trend and build a leadership position in it. For Gartner Inc. analyst Allen Weiner, Yahoo has become a victim of its own success. By nailing the all-in-one Web portal model in the 1990s, it became the dominant player in that market, but now it must adapt to the changing landscape. "Yahoo is by no means out of the game but the time is now to execute on a more tightly focused vision. That's what's missing. Garlinghouse is right in saying there are way too many people doing way too many things," Weiner says. The Wall Street Journal reported that Garlinghouse wrote the memo in October and circulated it among Yahoo's top executive brass. In response, Chief Operating Officer Dan Rosensweig appointed Garlinghouse to head a committee to study the memo's issues, the newspaper reported. Yahoo remains the world's most popular Web site, with 480.6 million unique visitors in October, according to comScore Networks Inc., but it has disappointed Wall Street with its financial performance in recent quarters. It has been seen as proactive in acquiring social media startups like the photo sharing site Flickr and the social bookmarking pioneer del.icio.us, two companies Garlinghouse uses as examples of overlapping services that Yahoo should consider consolidating. In addition to Flickr, the company has a similar service called Yahoo Photos, while Yahoo's MyWeb is identical in focus to del.icio.us. "We need to get the discussion going; change is needed and it is needed soon. We can be a stronger and faster company," Garlinghouse wrote. Asked for comment about the memo, a Yahoo spokeswoman provided a prepared statement via e-mail that says that during Yahoo's most recent earnings conference call, Chief Executive Officer Terry Semel said that the company is narrowing its focus on boosting search and graphical ad sales and on prioritizing social media, video and mobile. "We're moving forward aggressively on these priorities," she wrote. "The memo itself highlights that we have an open, collaborative culture and a senior management team that is intensely committed to helping Yahoo fulfill its potential as an Internet leader."
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Yahoo Inc  on Monday rejected  as too low Microsoft Corp's  unsolicited $41.4 billion  takeover offer, a move viewed by Wall Street as the first salvo  in an effort to get the software maker to raise its bid.
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bulk messages clogging instant-messaging accounts. AOL and its Anti-Spam Alliance partners -- EarthLink, Microsoft, and Yahoo
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After Jerry Yang and Sue Deckerâs conference call on Tuesday, Yahooâs shares plunged. Now, the companyâs customers and employees are left to wonder whatâs next.
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By MICHAEL LIEDTKE  00 SAN FRANCISCO - As its rivals create a bigger buzz on the Internet, Yahoo Inc. is hitting television and radio airwaves to remind people that its Web site remains on the cutting edge of technology and culture.
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With political activity skyrocketing on the web, election officials may be forced to regulate. Also: Yahoo stays strong and growing & hellip;. 7-Eleven joins 21st century & hellip;. and more.
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Yahooâs board decided the $44.6 billion bid undervalues Yahoo, a person familiar with the matter said.
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Response to the planned acquisition ranges from skepticism about about Yahoo's capacity to serve enterprise customers and suspicion about Yahoo's plans for the Zimbra suite.
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The service failed to gain much traction with users, especially when compared to a rival service by Yahoo.
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Everyone is ga-ga over Google. Time to get excited about Yahoo?
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SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Battered by slow revenue growth and the popularity of social networking Web sites, Yahoo Inc. is poised to lay off hundreds of workers, according to published reports.
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Yahoo&#39;s Chairman Roy Bostock is leading a group of the company&#39;s board members in favor of accepting&#160;Microsoft&#39;s unsolicited $44.6 billion takeover bid,&#160;according to a new report.The informal group headed by Bostock also includes other board members and billionaire investor Ron Burkle, according to the report in the New York Post, which quoted unnamed sources close to the situation. Board members Eric Hippeau, a managing partner at Softbank Capital, and Robert Kotick, CEO of Activision Publishing, are standing behind Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang, who does not want to accept Microsoft&#39;s offer.On Monday,&#160;Yahoo&#39;s board rejected Microsoft&#39;s offer,&#160;saying it undervalued the company.According to the Post, the discord revolves around Yang and his followers who are so opposed to selling the company to Microsoft that Bostock and his group fear they will act out of emotions rather than their fiduciary duty to Yahoo shareholders. Such an action could expose the board to lawsuits by shareholders.Yang sent a letter to shareholders&#160;Wednesday night, saying that Microsoft&#39;s bid substantially undervalues the company and that Yahoo is positioned to take advantage of growth in the online advertising market.Yahoo could not be reached for comment.Computerworld is an InfoWorld affililate.
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Yahooâs rebuff of the $44.6 billion takeover bid raises the stakes in a battle involving two of the worldâs most prominent technology companies.
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By MICHAEL LIEDTKE   Associated Press writer  SAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo Inc. is tackling its most difficult challenge since the dot-com bust with sweeping organizational changes aimed at cleaning up a mess of the Internet icon's own making.
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New York Post says Yahoo's board is starting to split, with some independent directors sensing that CEO Jerry Yang is viewing the bid too emotionally.
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What Yahoo! can do for Microsoft--and what it can't.
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Depredate to accumulate Yahoo! is reportedly gearing up to sack up to 20 per cent of its worldwide staff in the next two weeks.â¦