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Bit by bit, Marissa Mayer's Yahoo strategy gets clearer
February 13, 2013: 8:48 AM ETYahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is sticking to her message that services are No. 1, and she's confident that the company can capitalize on the shift to mobile.
FORTUNE -- It's hard to blame Marissa Mayer for speaking in platitudes and vagaries, though she's now seven months into her reign as Yahoo's CEO. With apparently successful revamps of both email and the Flickr photo service already under her belt, she's now focused on strategies for other services, including search and mobile apps.
Much of her Q&A session during the Goldman Sachs (GS) Technology and Internet conference on Tuesday mirrored what she said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call a couple of weeks ago: Her main areas of focus -- the "big four" -- are search, display ads, mobile, and video. About the only news she made was to say that Yahoo (YHOO) plans to reduce the number of mobile apps it offers down to 12 or 15 from about 60 now. The current, bloated offering makes for "a very scattered product portfolio," she said. Some apps will be merged together, others will continue to stand alone, and whatever remains will be discontinued.
While she reiterated that mobile will make up a big part of Yahoo's future, she made no pretense that she has the revenue model worked out. But she also noted that no other company has it figured out either. She operates on the (probably accurate) presumption that where users go, revenue will surely follow. For now, she said during the earnings call last month, revenues are "nascent." But with 200 million unique monthly users for Yahoo's mobile apps, there is enormous room for revenue growth. Most people, she guessed on Tuesday, will choose two to four apps "that matter most" to them.
MORE: The Google Guys grow up but not apart
She was less precise when discussing the other three of her "big four." Search and display ads, where Yahoo trails Google (GOOG) by a considerable margin, will be driven by "personalization," though she didn't outline a detailed strategy. Content is another driver, though Mayer has indicated that her main focus will be on services. "Overall," she said, "we have a commitment to bringing excellent content to users, that's what people have come to expect on the Yahoo homepage, sports, and others." She also mentioned content partnerships, which served to underline her emphasis on services. Don't expect any new original-content plays from the company.
In particular, don't expect any new forays into music, though partnerships are a possibility. "I don't think we're going to pursue music ourselves," she said. "As we look for the innovative and differentiable angle, I don't think that's an area [where] we see a lot of opportunity."
Opportunities lost (before she arrived) made up much of her presentation. She won't do music. She won't add much if any new content. She won't do maps ("because I know from my past life" -- as a Google executive -- "how expensive that is"). On the other hand, everybody had written off Flickr as a lost opportunity, but since the revamp, 25% more photos have been uploaded to the service.
MORE: What Tim Cook didn't say
Another opportunity blown by previous regimes is video. Here, though, Mayer seems to think the company has a shot -- though details are scarce. It "is going to be very important to our strategy," she said. It might still take a miracle to turn Yahoo around, but she's at least made a good start, and investors seem to agree. The company's stock has risen by 36% since she took over last July.
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Kontra on Siri vs. Google: 'Apple's game to lose'
A deep dive into the Apple vs. Google search wars by a writer who knows his stuff
FORTUNE -- "Siri could change Apple's fortunes like iTunes and App Store … or end up being like the useful-but-inessential FaceTime or the essential-but-difficult Maps or the desirable-but-dead Ping."
So begins a piece titled Is Siri really Apple's future? by Kontra, the anonymous author of an increasingly influential blog called Counternotions.
Nobody seems to know who Kontra is -- MORE
Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Nov 15, 2012 8:34 AM ET -
Yes, Google, Siri is a serious threat
The question isn't whether Siri is a search engine that can replace Google's search box. It's a different kind of search -- one that could be the future.
By Kevin Kelleher, contributor
FORTUNE -- It sounded pretty good until Eric Schmidt said it: Siri, the so-called personal assistant app on Apple's iPhone 4S, is the new face of search. Siri is threatening to sideline the tried-and-true search box that Google turned into MORE
Nov 9, 2011 11:27 AM ET -
Google's nagging media problem
The question of whether or not Google is actually a species of media company has dogged it since its early days. Truth is, it's missing one key characteristic.
By Ben Elowitz, contributor
FORTUNE -- Since Google's early rise, this question has consumed hordes of those watching it: Is Google a technology company or a media company? Paradoxically, Google has continuously defied the dichotomy, seeming to succeed in media precisely by maintaining that MORE
Aug 24, 2011 8:10 AM ETPosted in: algorithm, Apple, Ben Elowitz, Buzz, Circles, Facebook, Flipboard, Google, Larry Page, media, Monday Note, Orkut, Search, TechCrunch, Vic Gundorta, Wave -
Today in Tech: Facebook for business?
Fortune's curated selection of the day's most newsworthy tech stories from all over the Web. Sign up to get the newsletter delivered to you every day.
* Facebook launched a new "Facebook for Business" Web page that teaches smaller merchants how to set up a profile and create Facebook ads and deals. The move comes a week after Google+ shut down company-created profiles, restricting the social network to individual users. (GigaOm)
* Fox Broadcasting (NWS) plans to limit MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Jul 27, 2011 11:30 AM ET -
Today in Tech: Should Microsoft sell Bing?
Fortune's curated selection of the day's most newsworthy tech stories from all over the Web. Sign up to get the newsletter delivered to you every day.
* With just a 27% share of the U.S. search market, Reuters argues Microsoft should find a buyer for online search engine Bing. (Reuters via The New York Times)
* Google is revising its approach towards Google + users who for one reason or another don't use their full, real names MORE
JP Mangalindan, Writer - Jul 26, 2011 7:53 AM ETPosted in: Bing, CityVille, Fortune (magazine), Google, Microsoft, New York Times, Reed Hastings, Reuters, Search, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, Web search engine -
Four things Google needs to do to beat Facebook on the social web
By Ben Elowitz, contributor
Facebook is the social king today, but Google doesn't have to give up on the Internet's future.
FORTUNE -- Google is confronting a series of rugged (and, perhaps, ultimately insurmountable) challenges. And make no mistake: these challenges loom large, because Google's dominance of the Internet landscape is increasingly being threatened by Facebook's rise.
If Google (GOOG) is going to maintain its leadership, still-new CEO Larry Page needs to have MORE
Jun 24, 2011 10:56 AM ETPosted in: Ben Elowitz, Facebook, Google, Microsoft Office, Search, Social web, Vadim Lavrusik, World Wide Web -
Google search finds its voice
The tech giant unveiled a slew of new search features, including the ability to search by images and input queries by voice on desktop computers.
FORTUNE -- Google (GOOG) makes a lot of waves with products like Android and Gmail, but its bread and butter is still search. On Tuesday, the company unveiled a slew of new search features, including the ability to search by images and input queries by voice MORE
Michal Lev-Ram, writer - Jun 14, 2011 6:11 PM ET -
Google's choice: Employees or Wall Street
Employees.
Google (GOOG) stock took a huge hit last week following its earnings call, dropping and incredible 47 points or 8.26% from closing the day before. That's $15B in market cap and its biggest one day loss since the 2008 Bear market.
Google surpassed revenue expectations by a significant margin and missed consensus EPS by mere pennies, so why did the stock get hit so badly?
Cowan's Jim Friedland notes,
Google's Q1:11 revenues exceeded expectations. However, MORE
Seth Weintraub - Apr 18, 2011 7:03 AM ETPosted in: Eric Schmidt, Facebook, Google, Jonathan Rosenberg, Larry Page, Mark Mahaney, Search, Wall Street -
Google reports Q01 2011 earnings
Larry Page's first as Google (GOOG) CEO. We're on hand live.
Revenues of $8.58 billion a 27% increase over first quarter 2010 revenues of $6.77 billion. Paid Clicks Up 18%; Cost Per Click Up 8%:
4:35PM: Larry Page dropped in to say everything is going as planned, specifically the Executive switchover. Also thanks Jonathan Rosenberg who is usually on these calls but announced his resignation last week..
4:40: CFO Patrick Pichette seems very excited about MORE
Seth Weintraub - Apr 14, 2011 3:09 PM ET
