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What’s Going On At Yahoo? Who Cares

July 7th, 2008

The whole Yahoo! thing has gone on so long, it’s difficult to keep track of what’s transpired, and I’m now wondering why I should care. The deal is on, the deal is off, employees leave, the board stays put – and Google continues pulling ahead. Meanwhile, the whole takeover-dance has gone from a “who’s hooking up with who” soap opera to a boring Merchant-Ivory production to a drama so terminally dull, it has become a test of one’s ability to stare at snoresville.

From here on out I won’t mention Yahoo! on this blog until any of the following happens:

  1. Microsoft buys Yahoo! (increasingly likely as Yahoo! shares continue to wither).
  2. Jerry Yang steps down and is replaced (Icahn).
  3. Yahoo! merges with some other company (Yahoo! + AOL through Time Warner).
  4. Yahoo! announces blow-out earnings or some crazy new strategy that puts it ahead of Google (not likely).

2 could be a precursor to 1, and 3 would be Yahoo!’s strategy to get to 4, but it could also lead to 1 or 2, or Yahoo! could do 2 themselves in order to get to 4, or… never mind.

It’s just so sad. Back when this whole Microsoft-Yahoo! thing was announced, I had sympathetic, nostalgic feelings for Yahoo! as a Web 1.0 leader and crash-survivor – the whole romantic entrepreneur-story of two Stanford students creating a company out of thin air. But something happened when Terry Semel took over, the dreams of a Hollywood media-empire attracted the wrong people, and now they seem trapped by middle-managers who care more about their paychecks and personal severance packages than saving the company through innovation.

Now Yahoo! resembles lovelorn Adele Hugo (Isabelle Adjani), insane and unable to attract the lover who ignores her, wandering the island of Barbabos… never mind.

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  • I hear you. With every new "development" I roll my eyes a little more and let out yet another groan. The acquisition situation is pretty much emblematic of everything that's wrong with Yahoo. No resolution...drag things on and on...indecision...no bold moves...blah blah blah. You're right, who cares?

    Having worked there during its heyday, it also makes me sad to watch. But at the same time, the blame is all Yahoo's. It squandered what it once had and pretty much made its own bed. What a waste.
  • yeah... the analogies are endless -- Yahoo!s slide is like the Hillary
    campaign, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, or it's like
    Apple under Amelio, but there's no Steve Jobs to lead a turn around.
  • Right on Brother! It has gone past the point of good taste and reason both! Both sides have tried their level best to screw this deal up. If's funny watching Icahn, he like the dad stepping in to quite the kids down and get them doing their homework again!
  • Mike
    Yeah, you got it. My sympathy has waned, too, especially as some of the really smart people have left (at least, the ones I read online).

    I hope the really good projects don't die - my eyes are on Delicious, Flickr, and Pipes. If Microsoft, AOL, or some other company kills them off, even inadvertently, it would be a real shame.
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