Yahoo | Internet Marketing Blog

Yahoo partners on animated sci-fi series

Is Yahoo a media company, or a technology company? It's a question the company has long struggled with.

If you look at the recent appointment of former PayPal president Scott Thompson as CEO, you might suspect that Yahoo is aiming to be a technology company once again.

After all, Thompson was once PayPal's CTO, a VP of technology solutions at a Visa subsidiary and a CIO at Barclays.

But the fact that Thompson is a technologist doesn't mean that Yahoo is ditching its Hollywood connection, cemented during Terry Semel's reign, either. In fact, it's upping the ante with a deal that will see it distributing exclusively a new animated sci-fi series.

by Patricio Robles 10 January 2012 09:44am 0 comments

PayPal's Scott Thompson named Yahoo CEO

Yahoo has confirmed the appointment of PayPal president Scott Thompson as its new CEO.

Thompson’s decision to jump ship comes at a strange time, as PayPal is one of eBay’s fastest growing divisions and is in a strong position to take advantage of the growth in m-commerce.

by David Moth 04 January 2012 17:02pm 0 comments

Will Microsoft end up buying Yahoo?

In early 2008, Microsoft was willing to spend close to $45bn to buoy its search position. We know what happened next: Yahoo rebuffed, Microsoft walked away and Yahoo has floundered ever since.

It turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Microsoft. The economy, along with the stock market, tanked later in the year, saving Microsoft from what could have gone down as one of the worst timed deals in M&A history.

And despite the stock market's rebound over the past several years, Yahoo is still valued at well under half of what Microsoft was willing to pay in 2008.

by Patricio Robles 24 November 2011 15:41pm 1 comment

Toyota gets interactive with Yahoo's 'Living Ads'

Interactive ‘Living Ads’ for the Toyota’s Prius V have started to appear in Yahoo’s new Livestand iPad app.

Yahoo says the Living Ad format is more engaging for consumers since it uses photography and sequenced videos to grab people's attention.

by David Moth 23 November 2011 10:36am 0 comments

Yahoo attracts 1m visitors with multichannel Twilight campaign

Yahoo has attracted 1m visitors to its website as part of a promotion for The Twilight Saga's Breaking Dawn episode.

The multichannel campaign ran in partnership with Summit Entertainment, featuring a week of exclusive content, ads, promotions and a sweepstake to win a new Volvo. This culminated in a live stream of the red carpet at the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Yahoo Movies.

by David Moth 22 November 2011 11:00am 1 comment

Can YouTube's founders make leftovers Delicious?

Social media may be alive and well, but some of the most prominent web properties that rose during 'Web 2.0' have seen better days.

From Digg to Delicious, if the rise and fall of companies that were supposed to change the web, if not the world, reminds us of anything, it's this: the consumer internet market evolves rapidly, and can be as brutal to the losers as it is rewarding to the winners.

But can a Web 2.0 has-been be brought back to life by a couple of entrepreneurs who built one of its biggest winners? Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, who founded YouTube, hope so.

by Patricio Robles 28 September 2011 13:41pm 0 comments

What's next for Yahoo post-Carol Bartz?

Yahoo is still one of the largest consumer internet companies, and one of the most recognizable technology brands in the world. But it's also arguably one of the most troubled publicly-traded technology companies in the world.

In January 2009, the company hired Carol Bartz as CEO to change that. Bartz had previously led software maker Autodesk, and her successes there provided some hope to Yahoo and its shareholders that the company could be turned around.

But little more than two years later, Yahoo's board decided that progress, if any, hasn't been great enough, and yesterday fired Bartz.

by Patricio Robles 07 September 2011 09:19am 3 comments

Schema.org: good for Google, Bing and Yahoo, bad for everyone else?

Google, Bing and Yahoo may not be the best of friends, but every once in a while they do get together in a high-profile way.

That was the case yesterday, when the search trio announced the launch of Schema.org, which seeks to add more structure to content on the web.

by Patricio Robles 03 June 2011 14:02pm 17 comments

Yahoo targets TV budgets with new mobile ads

Yahoo logo Yahoo wants a bigger chunk of the mobile ad market, and the company's trying to grab it by rolling out a trio of new ad units.

But Yahoo isn’t trying to steal marketshare from rivals like Google (with AdMob), or Apple (with Quattro). The target is an even greater behemoth: TV.

by Tameka Kee 09 December 2010 19:04pm 2 comments

The new Yahoo: a lot more like Google

This morning in Sunnyvale, California, Yahoo held a large press event to explain its new product strategy and debut some products out this fall. Blake Irving, Yahoo’s EVP and chief products officer, also outlined the challenges he faces at the company. He wants to bring "cool back to Yahoo.”