Jul 12
16
Yahoo! Serious
Yahoo has finally got it right. After a decade of missteps, mistakes and missed opportunities, Yahoo has finally made a staggeringly good choice.
Marissa Mayer, the former head of style and guardian of Google’s minimalist esthetic has left the rainbow pod for purpler pastures as the new President and CEO of Yahoo. She starts tomorrow morning.
The news, released late this afternoon, is seismic in scale. Mayer, 37, was Google’s twentieth employee. She has been critical to Google’s development and the integration of Google’s various products. Most recently, Mayer was in charge of Google’s local search products which were recently integrated into Google Plus. In short, Marissa Mayer was one of Google’s most respected and talented engineers. She was also one of the toughest to work for, demanding perfection in design, look and feel of all Google products.
For Yahoo, acquiring THE Marissa Mayer must feel like the greatest coup as well as the greatest relief. Though no longer Google’s greatest rival, Yahoo remains one of the largest content networks on the Internet with a large number of highly used information properties such as Yahoo Sports, Finance and Yahoo Mail. It also has an extremely competent paid-search business and remains one of the best known brands in the world.
The CEO’s office at Yahoo has been a revolving door the last few years. After Terry Semel (2001 -2007) tried to to leverage content to make Yahoo a media services company, original founder Jerry Yang (2007 – 2009) tried to take Yahoo back to its technology roots. Yang seriously screwed up, making perhaps his biggest mistake when he turned down Microsoft’s $32/share buyout offer in spring 2009. Yahoo shares have dropped nearly 40% since then. Yang’s error had him facing a shareholder’s revolt so he stepped down in 2009 to be replaced by tough talking Carol Bartz (2009 – 2011).
Bartz swore she would turn the company around shortly after swearing at a number of Yahoo board members and innumerable vice presidents. While she failed to meet shareholder expectations, she did solidify a cash-less deal with Microsoft in which Yahoo gave its search technologies to Microsoft in exchange for the lion’s share of shared revenues from providing paid-search to Bing search results and Microsoft’s content network.
Bartz was replaced by Yahoo’s most embarrassing hiring mistake. In February 2012, Yahoo hired Scott Thompson as CEO. Thompson immediately went about laying lots of people off and shuttering development divisions. In May 2012, it was discovered that Scott Thompson had lied on his resume, claiming to have a university degree or two he hadn’t actually earned. This mistake left many Yahooligans wishing, “If only there were an application one could use to verify such things…” The era of Thompson ended abruptly and Yahoo has since been led by its fractured board.
Marissa Mayer is stepping into a weird place. While Google is increasingly beset by inter-office strife and re-orgs as Larry Page asserts control, Yahoo has been a cesspool of rivalries, inter-divisional fighting, medieval politics and board room scheming for the better (or worse) part of the last decade. Marissa Mayer however, is known to be one of the most intimidating and toughest technologists in the Valley. She is also now one of the most powerful. Long recognized as one of the preeminent women in technology, Marissa Mayer now gets to prove she’s the preeminent brains in the business of search. If she can turn Yahoo around, she’ll have proved it and more.
Jim Hedger
Jim Hedger is an organic SEO and digital marketing specialist. Jim has been involved in the online marketing industry since 1998 and a SEO since 1999. Best known as a broadcaster, interviewer, content writer and search industry commentator, Jim is a frequent conference speaker and organizer. He hosts the search focused radio show Webcology on WebmasterRadio.FM and is a WebmasterRadio.FM conference interviewer. Jim brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, passion and creative thinking to each project. Preferring a teamwork approach, Jim strives to inform and train his clients and their staff to run and maintain their own search and social media efforts.
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