Marissa Mayer largely spoke in vague generalities about her plans for Yahoo in her first quarterly conversation with analysts since she became CEO in July. She promised to make Yahoo “a growth company by inspiring and delighting our users.” She wants people to turn to Yahoo as a daily habit, for example when they search the Web or communicate. The former Google exec says that search is “the top priority for Yahoo” and she plans to “make organic investments to grow market share.” While there’s “disappointment” in the results from the partnership with Microsoft, she has no plans to change the alliance. Meanwhile, look for a revamp of Yahoo Mail and Messenger, as well as its home page to “make it more compelling.” Personalization will be key. “We just scratched the surface,” she says. Another top priority is to develop a “focused, coherent mobile strategy.” She acknowledged that Yahoo “hasn’t capitalized on the mobile opportunity.” It spent too little on services and allowed its product offerings to be “splintered.”
Related: Yahoo Q3 Earnings Beat Forecasts With Strong Results From Search
Shareholders will be pleased to hear her talk up the possibility of repurchasing stock with the cash Yahoo received from the sale of some of its stake in Alibaba. Acquisitions, if any, likely will be small and execs “don’t have particular acquisitions in mind today,” she says. Wrapping up, she says that “it’s time for Yahoo to execute and bring our businesses back to growth.”


WAY too little…WAY too late!
(Exclamation point courtesy of Tom Wolfe & his new book)
HYPE. Don’t you love it? It’s the oldest form of getting people to pay attention & part with their money. Those who hired her and their PR Team are the smart ones. Next!
She can come up with all these ideas but it’s not going to help Yahoo in the long run…Yahoo is not Google and will never truly compete with the powerhouse known as Google. She needs to revamp the whole company from top to bottom if they ever want to become relevant once again. If the new idea fail, look for her to be bounced in 6 months.
Yahoo! is down but not out – Marissa may just be the one to bring it back. I certainly wouldn’t underestimate her chances.
Pulled right from one of Romney’s Binders?
Good one, Brad. Good one.
Yahoo is more ads and pop-ups than it is relevant content. Not to mention its biased and inaccurate news stories. It needs torn down and built again, but I think they are too proud to do that.