A leaked memo from Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz confirms layoffs began this week. Yahoo was not the only tech company with announced layoffs: Nokia is also cutting staff in Finland. –
It’s a cold, cold winter in Sunnyvale, Calif.,
and Helsinki.
Internet “destination” Yahoo as it calls itself in its company overview has a
bit of bad news for 4 percent of its staff (about 600 employees) this holiday
season: Sorry, but your services at Yahoo are no longer necessary. Yahoo
emp…
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz May 26 at the company’s analyst day pledged allegiance to improving user engagement. Yahoo CFO Tim Morse said Yahoo expects annual sales to increase by an average of 7 percent to 10 percent. Yahoo also partnered with Zynga after buying Associated Content and Foursquare copycat Koprol. Some analysts see these moves as positive attempts to gain more users; others see them as an admittance that the company would rather integrate others’ technology than build exciting new products. – Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz pledged the company’s
allegiance to improving user engagement and expressed confidence in reaching as
much as 10 percent revenue growth over the next few years.
Yahoo CFO Tim Morse said at the company’s analyst day May 26 that Yahoo
expects annual sales to increase by an av…
Yahoo and Nokia announce a partnership that will see Yahoo become the global provider for Nokia’s Ovi e-mail and messenger services, while Nokia provides map and navigation technology for Yahoo’s properties. The alliance is meant to bring vital technology into Yahoo’s portfolio, while giving Nokia more of a toehold in the U.S. mobile market, where it lags behind competitors. Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz says such partnerships are now a key focus for Yahoo. – Yahoo and Nokia announced a partnership May 24 in which Nokia will become
the global provider of Yahoo’s map and navigation services, while Yahoo becomes
the global provider of Nokia’s Ovi e-mail and messenger services. The deal is
designed to play to the strengths of both companies, with Yahoo c…
Yahoo May 18 agreed to purchase Associated Content for a reported $100 million. Yahoo said it plans to bring the company’s article, audio and video content to its 600 million-plus users as well as tens of thousands of advertisers, which will be able to target consumers interested in some 60,000 topics. Associated Content marks a return to the mergers-and-acquisitions scene after spending much of 2009 shuttering or selling assets it acquired, such as GeoCities, its publisher network and its Maven Networks video ad assets. – Yahoo, which has been working to reposition itself as a
media content portal under CEO Carol Bartz, has
agreed to purchase Associated Content.
Yahoo expects to close the deal in the third quarter, and
while it declined to disclose a purchase price, some reports peg the buy at $100 million.
Asso…
Google needs to expand beyond its base in search, Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz reportedly said during an interview with BBC News. Although Yahoo signed a 10-year search-and-advertising deal with Microsoft that will see Bing power the Web company’s back-end search processes, Yahoo executives have insisted that the company remains viable thanks to its end-user services. Recent surveys indicate that Yahoo occupies a position in the U.S. search market well behind Google and slightly ahead of Bing, although a recent $100 million search campaign seems to have had a negligible effect on reversing Yahoos market-share erosion.
– Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz insisted during an
interview with BBC News that Google, its erstwhile competitor, could face
serious issues in the future.
“Google is going to have a problem because Google is only known for
search Â… it is only half our business; its 99.9 [percent] of their
business,” Ba…
Microsofts week consisted of several conversations with executives about the evolution of Bing, its search engine, and the inevitable comparisons with current U.S. search-market dominator Google. Those executives demonstrated a mobile version of Bing for Windows Phone 7 Series, the new smartphone operating system that Microsoft also showed off at this week’s CTIA Wireless 2010 conference in Las Vegas. Although Bing and Windows Phone 7 Series are very consumer-oriented, Microsoft also made enterprise-centric news with the announcement of its upcoming unified communications platform, code-named Communications Server 14.
– Back when Microsoft launched Bing in June 2009, Yahoo CEO
Carol Bartz predicted that interest in the search engine would be
quot;temporary. quot; Ten months later, Bing has managed to carve out an 11.5
percent share of the U.S.
search engine market, lagging far behind Googles 65 percent but wit…
Yahoo could emulate Apple in the 1990s in taking years to restore itself to competitive health, CEO Carol Bartz told reporters during a March 2 event to commemorate Yahoo’s 15th anniversary. Although Yahoo has aggressively sought to expand its more popular features while cutting underperforming applications and programs, the company has seen its U.S. search-engine market share decline in recent months. A 10-year agreement with Microsoft will see Bing power Yahoos back-end search, allowing Yahoo to focus primarily on designing its offerings in ways that appeal to a broad number of users.
– Yahoo could take years to return to strength, according to
CEO Carol Bartz, who compared her struggling
Internet company to Apple circa the return of Steve Jobs as
CEO in 1997.
quot;It took him four years, quot; Bartz told the Associated Press and other media during a March 2 meeting to
co…
Yahoo and Microsoft have announced a long-rumoured internet search deal that will help the two companies take on chief rival Google.
Microsoft’s search engine will power the Yahoo website and Yahoo will in turn become the advertising sales team for Microsoft’s online offering.
Yahoo has been struggling to make profits in recent years.
But it rebuffed several takeover bids from Microsoft in an attempt to go it alone.
"This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo, our users, and the industry. And I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of internet innovation and development," said Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz.
The deal became possible after Yahoo’s co-founder Jerry Yang stepped down as chief executive of the company.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
ANALYSIS
By Tim Weber
Business editor, BBC News website
After failing to buy Yahoo outright a year ago, Microsoft has now announced a search and advertising partnership with its former online rival. It’s an important deal, and not just for advertisers.
Poor Yahoo shareholders. They could have pocketed a cool $44.6bn, or $33 a share, when Microsoft offered to buy Yahoo outright. The shares are now trading at just under $16.
Eighteen months on, they have to make do with the promise that Microsoft will help Yahoo to survive and grow by providing a better search, and thus a better advertising platform.
Consumer market
Yahoo’s audience will have to wait at least a year before they will see the difference.
First the deal will have to be shepherded past weary regulators around the world; this will take until early 2010, says Yahoo’s new boss Carol Bartz. It will take another three to six months before Microsoft’s "Bing" search engine starts answering the queries of Yahoo users.
The real benefit will come in the years after that, as Yahoo transforms its web offering and puts search at the centre of the user experience, at long last catching up with how we all use the web these days.
He-who-must-not-be-named
This is not a partnership of love, but necessity. A year ago, I called the proposed Yahoo-Microsoft merger a shotgun wedding, with Google holding the shotgun.
Since then, Google has upgraded its weaponry and extended its lead in search advertising, the one online business model that truly works.
For Yahoo and Microsoft, Google is the enemy who – Harry Potter style – must-not-be-named. During their 45 minute conference call neither Ms Bartz nor Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer used the word Google even once.
Instead they spoke of becoming "a strong number two competitor in the market" and the need to create a credible alternative for advertisers.
Indeed, advertisers will only be too happy to bolster the Microsoft-Yahoo partnership. Whether small online retailers or advertising giants like WPP, many were worried about Google’s near-monopoly in the search advertising market.
Competition will not only keep Google on its toes, but should help to control prices as well.
Technology company no more
Yahoo’s workforce, meanwhile, may well remember the 29th of July as Black Wednesday. The company always saw itself as a technology leader. Not anymore.
The man who fought last year’s takeover bid tooth and nail, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang, was forced out, taking with him the sentimental attachment to the firm’s technology roots.
Yahoo is bowing to the inevitable. It simply had neither the resources nor the focus to win the technological arms race for search supremacy.
Yahoo’s search engineers now have the choice of working for erstwhile archenemy Microsoft, scrambling to get one of the few search jobs left at Yahoo, or find themselves on the job market at a time when even Google has stopped hiring.
Centre of life
New no-nonsense boss Carol Bartz wants Yahoo to build instead on its position as the world’s "largest online media company".
"Our vision is to be at the centre of people’s life online," she said after the deal was announced.
More mundanely, Yahoo will become a part of Microsoft’s advertising sales force.
But here is the rub: does Yahoo’s business model as online publisher have a future
Ms Bartz made a great deal of Yahoo’s recent redesign of its home page. But as we use search to find content, home pages are getting increasingly irrelevant.
The traditional search advertising model, meanwhile, could break if old media publishers follow through on their threat to erect pay walls around their content. In another worst-case scenario, much of the content that Yahoo builds on might simply vanish as more and more old media goes out of business.
Little wonder that Yahoo shares were sharply down on news of the deal.
Let’s bing
That leaves Microsoft as the winner.
It won’t make that much money on the deal, but Steve Ballmer frankly acknowledges that this is a long-term investment.
Microsoft gets Yahoo’s search technology, and more importantly he gets direct access to Yahoo’s many users. After all, Yahoo is still the world’s most popular online destination.
Two months ago, this deal would have gone down like a lead balloon. Today it has credibility, ever since Microsoft launched its new "Bing" search engine to generally good reviews.
Mr Ballmer knows that Microsoft still has a lot of work to do before people stop googling and bing instead.
The deal with Yahoo, though, is a platform that his search engineers can build on.
It won’t be a Google killer. But it could, just could, cut into the market leader’s profit margins.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
After spending recent months fighting off questions about the health of chief executive Steve Jobs, iPod maker Apple today shrugged off its critics by announcing some of the best financial results in its history.
Despite the economic gloom, the Californian technology giant reported revenues for the three months to the end of June of $8.34bn – up almost 12% from the same time last year. That generated profits of $1.23bn, a 15% increase on this time in 2008, and a record amount for the company outside of the Christmas season.
The success was achieved largely thanks to the launch of the new iPhone 3GS, which went on sale in June – as well as renewed interest in the company’s Macintosh computers. Sales of iPods were down year-on-year, although the company hinted that more models were on the way later this year.
“We’re proud to report the best June quarter for both revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” Jobs, who returned to work a few weeks ago after undergoing life-saving liver transplant surgery, said in a statement.
“We set a new record for Mac sales, we think we have a real winner with our new iPhone, and we’re busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months.”
During a six-month leave of absence, the company was run by chief operating officer Tim Cook, whose successful command underscores the view of many that he is set to be Jobs’s successor.
But Apple’s fortunes contrasted sharply with those of Yahoo, which reported another disappointing quarter.
Revenues for the past three months dwindled to $1.573bn, down 13% year on year, while profits dropped to $76m – a 25% fall from the same period in 2008.
The company said it had been hit heavily by currency fluctuations, which accounted for nearly 5% of the fall in revenue, but insisted that the figures represented a “solid quarter” in the face of wider economic turmoil.
“I’m pleased with our results this past quarter,” said chief executive Carol Bartz. “We established a clear, simple vision to be the centre of people’s lives online, and we’re backing that vision with important initiatives to create ‘wow’ experiences for our users.”
The company was keen to point to the recent relaunch of its homepage, one of the web’s most popular portals – but those words seem foolhardy just days after Yahoo’s main rival posted results that bucked the downturn entirely. Although Google’s overall revenues were flat for the last quarter, the company eked out efficiencies to post an 18% increase in profit year on year.
That will not have gone unnoticed at Yahoo, where the company’s inexorable slide has been taking place for several years – ending the rule of a succession of executives who were unable to prevent the rot from taking hold as Yahoo. Most recently co-founder Jerry Yang stepped aside as CEO in January to be replaced by tough-talking technology veteran Bartz. However, despite attempting to streamline and reorganise the company, she has yet to make a noticeable impact on the bottom line.
The numbers will also make intriguing reading for executives at Microsoft, after reports last week that the Seattle technology giant was close to signing a deal with its Silicon Valley rival.
The two companies have had a testy relationship ever since Microsoft launched a $45bn takeover bid for Yahoo last year – but even so, they are believed to be closing in on a deal that could see Microsoft take control of Yahoo’s search engine for around $3bn.
Microsoft is desperate to take on Google and gain more traction in the lucrative search advertising market – but Martin McNulty, director of search marketing specialist Trafficbroker, said that the raised more questions than it answered.
“The results are really just a sideshow to the main event right now, and that’s the potential deal with Microsoft,” he said. “It’s unclear why Yahoo can’t stand on its own two feet, as it still commands a significant market share in search queries and advertising revenues globally.”
“Even if the deal does go ahead,” he added, “A Microsoft-Yahoo collaboration is unlikely to offer an increased threat to Google, which, brand and technology-wise, is in a league of its own.”
Internet search engine Yahoo has seen revenues in the quarter to 30 June fall 13%, citing the challenging economic environment.
Revenues for the three-month period dropped to $1.57bn (£953m) from $1.79bn in the same period a year earlier.
Meanwhile profit for the quarter edged up to $141m from $131.
Yahoo shares fell 4% in after-hours trade after saying income this quarter would range between $55m to $65m, from $76m in the second quarter.
Ross Sandler, an analyst with RBC Markets said: "Everybody expected conservative guidance. It’s more conservative than even most people had expected. There aren’t great estimates out there."
Yahoo chief executive Carol Bartz said "We established a clear, simple vision to be the centre of people’s lives online, and we’re backing that vision with important initiatives to create ‘wow’ experiences for our users".
Yahoo earned $141.4m, or 10 cents per share, in the quarter ending in June, up $131.2m, or 9 cents per share, in the same period in 2008.
The results come as the firm unveils its redesigned front page, to make it easier to users to access content.
The move is aimed at boosting its position as the main portal to the web.
Deal
Laxmi Poruri, an analyst with Primary Global Research, was more upbeat: "The revenue was a little bit under what people wanted but earnings per share was better than expected."
"This is definitely a sign that they’re trying to be more efficient. What’s really holding (the stock) up is an imminent deal that people are expecting with Microsoft."
Last year a tie-up between the firms collapsed after Microsoft’s $47.5bn takeover bid for Yahoo collapsed.
And Yahoo’s attempt to form an alliance with Google came to nothing following regulatory examination.
But in recent days, there has been renewed speculation that a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo is imminent.
Investor Carl Icahn, who holds around 5% of Yahoo, recently voiced his backing for such a deal. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
After spending recent months fighting off questions about the health of chief executive Steve Jobs, iPod maker Apple today shrugged off its critics by announcing some of the best financial results in its history.
Despite the economic gloom, the Californian technology giant reported revenues for the three months to the end of June of $8.34bn – up almost 12% from the same time last year. That generated profits of $1.23bn, a 15% increase on this time in 2008, and a record amount for the company outside of the Christmas season.
The success was achieved largely thanks to the launch of the new iPhone 3GS, which went on sale in June – as well as renewed interest in the company’s Macintosh computers. Sales of iPods were down year-on-year, although the company hinted that more models were on the way later this year.
“We’re proud to report the best June quarter for both revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” Jobs, who returned to work a few weeks ago after undergoing life-saving liver transplant surgery, said in a statement.
“We set a new record for Mac sales, we think we have a real winner with our new iPhone, and we’re busy finishing several more wonderful new products to launch in the coming months.”
During a six-month leave of absence, the company was run by chief operating officer Tim Cook, whose successful command underscores the view of many that he is set to be Jobs’s successor.
But Apple’s fortunes contrasted sharply with those of Yahoo, which reported another disappointing quarter.
Revenues for the past three months dwindled to $1.573bn, down 13% year on year, while profits dropped to $76m – a 25% fall from the same period in 2008.
The company said it had been hit heavily by currency fluctuations, which accounted for nearly 5% of the fall in revenue, but insisted that the figures represented a “solid quarter” in the face of wider economic turmoil.
“I’m pleased with our results this past quarter,” said chief executive Carol Bartz. “We established a clear, simple vision to be the centre of people’s lives online, and we’re backing that vision with important initiatives to create ‘wow’ experiences for our users.”
The company was keen to point to the recent relaunch of its homepage, one of the web’s most popular portals – but those words seem foolhardy just days after Yahoo’s main rival posted results that bucked the downturn entirely. Although Google’s overall revenues were flat for the last quarter, the company eked out efficiencies to post an 18% increase in profit year on year.
That will not have gone unnoticed at Yahoo, where the company’s inexorable slide has been taking place for several years – ending the rule of a succession of executives who were unable to prevent the rot from taking hold as Yahoo. Most recently co-founder Jerry Yang stepped aside as CEO in January to be replaced by tough-talking technology veteran Bartz. However, despite attempting to streamline and reorganise the company, she has yet to make a noticeable impact on the bottom line.
The numbers will also make intriguing reading for executives at Microsoft, after reports last week that the Seattle technology giant was close to signing a deal with its Silicon Valley rival.
The two companies have had a testy relationship ever since Microsoft launched a $45bn takeover bid for Yahoo last year – but even so, they are believed to be closing in on a deal that could see Microsoft take control of Yahoo’s search engine for around $3bn.
Microsoft is desperate to take on Google and gain more traction in the lucrative search advertising market – but Martin McNulty, director of search marketing specialist Trafficbroker, said that the raised more questions than it answered.
“The results are really just a sideshow to the main event right now, and that’s the potential deal with Microsoft,” he said. “It’s unclear why Yahoo can’t stand on its own two feet, as it still commands a significant market share in search queries and advertising revenues globally.”
“Even if the deal does go ahead,” he added, “A Microsoft-Yahoo collaboration is unlikely to offer an increased threat to Google, which, brand and technology-wise, is in a league of its own.”
