
Well here's some big news from Yahoo as they have announced further restructuring in the company. The news comes after months of shuffling within the Yahoo world.
Yesterday's press release from Yahoo goes to great length to outline upcoming restructuring for the proverbial second place finisher in the world of search. The news had a minor impact on Yahoo share price but the reprucutions of the restructuring might not be felt for months or even years. The release goes on to state that Yahoo will focus on three main groups:
- Audience Group - with focus on building the largest and most valuable audiences and relationships on and off the Yahoo! network
- Advertiser & Publisher Group - focusing on leading the transformation of how advertisers connect with their target customers across the Internet, with the goal of driving more value for more advertisers and publishers than any other company.
- Technology Group - headed by Chief Technology Officer Farzad Nazem. The focus of this group will involove an investment shift towards the development of high-impact, scalable, global platforms and infrastructures to help capture the most significant long-term growth opportunities
By changing the focus as such, Yahoo hopes to have the right people in the right place and to increase accountability and speed decision-making. Hmm so why this restructuring? Are they gearing up to provide stronger competition for Google? Or are they looking to position themselves in better standing for a possible merger (with Microsoft perhaps?). If you asked me last week ore even a couple of days ago I would have said that Yahoo is looking to build a stronger relationship with Microsoft or another partner. Now with this agressive restructuring I'm more inclined to think that Yahoo looks to break trail in un-yet tapped territory. Terry Semel, Yahoo! chairman and chief executive officer goes on to say "...We're putting the right people in the right places to execute our focused growth strategy." With Yahoo's interest and plan to acquire Bix.com, a social media contest site, you get the impression that social media and interaction is where Yahoo is targeting their growth towards.
Still it looks like there is a strong focus on Yahoo's purpose to connect people to their passions, their communities, and the world's knowledge has been re-established. What does this mean for Yahoo? Even Googleboy himself, Matt Cutts is questioning whether this restructuring will distract Yahoo for a while. Is this move a good one for Yahoo? Former Merrill Lynch Internet analyst, Henry Blodget, seems to think so. Only time will tell.
Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc.
|