SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- Eleven months after being ousted from the company he co-founded, former Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang has struck out on a new career -- the billionaire tech guru is delivering mail for the United States Postal Service. "I've had a lot of lucky breaks in my life, and it's time to give something back," Yang says. "Plus it's great exercise."

Much love to Scott from the Future for the tip.

July 22, 2008 5:51 PM PDT

Posted by Stephen Shankland

Yahoo may have had some bumps in its second quarter, but it's not backing down from forecast for the rest of the year.

The Internet pioneer edged below analyst expectations for its second quarter for both revenue and earnings per share. Specifically, revenue excluding commissions increased 8 percent to $1.346 billion, shy of the $1.37 billion analysts had expected, and net income was 10 cents per share excluding various items, compared with 11 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Nothing major went wrong, but the company's performance ended up on the low end of a number of financial measurements. One big factor was economic troubles, which Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen said resulted in "softness" for ads in the finance, travel, and retail sectors.

With that in mind, and given that even Google is starting to sound worried about the economy, it's notable that Yahoo wasn't more cautious with its forecast.

Yahoo narrowed its expected full-year revenue from the range of $7.2 billion to $8 billion it issued three months ago to $7.35 billion to $7.85 billion.

Apparently, Wall Street was willing to hear the overtones of optimism in Chief Executive Jerry Yang's words Thursday. Yahoo stock rose 59 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to $21.99 in after-hours trading.

Don't read too much into that, though. The trouble with measuring Yahoo by stock performance is that it's in a foaming sea of possibilities right now with Microsoft's attempt to acquire Yahoo, a deal under which top rival Google will supply search ads and as much as $800 million in new revenue, a major reorganization and executive exodus, and the company settling its differences with activist investor Carl Icahn. Watching the stock is enough to make you seasick, and who can say how many expectations and counter-expectations have been baked into the price?

Frankly, it's remarkable given the number and scale of distractions that Yahoo managed to make an earnings announcement at all. Such complications take a toll on employees, but Yahoo quantified the challenge, too: it spent $22 million on advisers and legal defense costs dealing with Microsoft and Icahn.

One reason that President Sue Decker sounded optimistic is that the company believes it's narrowing the gap with Google in how much money it makes off each search ad.

There are two basic varieties of online ads, the text ads that appear next to search results and the more traditional graphical "display" ads that mirror what you'd see on TV or in a magazine. With the former, advertisers pay only when a user clicks on the ad, but with the latter, the advertiser generally pays when it's shown. Yahoo's hope is to bring the two realms together with unified tools for advertisers and to make it easier to control the complexities of display-ad campaigns.

Yahoo does better than Google in display ads, so it's natural for the company to try to press its advantage there. But even if Yahoo does manage to fire up the display-ad market with better tools, don't expect Google to be left in the dust.

For one thing, Google has fired up its own display-ad work with the DoubleClick acquisition. For another, the search-ad market is twice as big, according to analysis firm eMarketer, which projects U.S. spending on online ads will increase from $25.9 billion this year to $41 billion in 2011. But display ads are a relatively small part of that, increasing from $5.5 billion to $7.9 billion over the same period while search ads--the market Google dominates--rises from $10.4 billion to $16 billion.

One interesting note on the call came with the discussion of the Google advertising partnership. It doesn't look like Yahoo is counting on money from that partnership this year.

To recap its expected effects, Yahoo expects up to $800 million in revenue and $250 million to $450 million in operating cash flow from the Google deal, it said when it announced the deal. Yang said Tuesday that the money will be used to "enhance financial results and be reinvested in the company."

But the Google deal is under antitrust scrutiny right now from the Justice Department, Congress, and the states, and Yang also used a conspicuously cautious term--"if" not "when"--to describe the expected schedule for the deal's going into effect.

"If we implement (it), it would be some time in the fourth quarter, it looks like," he said. That contrasts with the company's earlier statements that it needs nobody's permission to go ahead with the deal and that its three-and-a-half-month delay for antitrust review is purely voluntary.

Adobe, in a somewhat foolhardy quest to develop and establish its own media distribution creds, has now updated its Media Player with a new interface, and added full length movies from Sony Pictures...also added are new shows from CBS, including episodes of Beverly Hills 90210, 48 Hours, The Love Boat. About 600 shows and 25,000 individual episodes are available in all in AMP. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-new-adobe-player-adds-sony-movies-still-trying-harder 7/21)

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, I have download fatigue.  The product has to be an unbelievable game-changer at this point for me to take the time to download it.  In most cases, I forget to remove the program and clog up my machine like a impenetrable drain.  Speaking of which, I should go remove Google Lively. . .

TiVo and Amazon.com may be getting one step closer to the marketing dream of using a TV remote control to order products being advertised or promoted on a talk show or commercial. TiVo today will unveil a "product purchase" option that will link to products being pitched by guests on a handful of popular talk shows, including Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." (The New York Times 7/22)

Ousted AOL chief Jon Miller is a candidate for one of the two open board seats activist investor Carl Icahn gets in a deal avoiding a battle for control of Yahoo. Miller could even end up running Yahoo if pressures to oust CEO Jerry Yang continue. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080721/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_miller 7/21)

Ongoing talks about a deal for AOL between Time Warner and Internet giants Yahoo, Google and Microsoft have heated up since Microsoft's bid to acquire Yahoo was rebuffed by Yang in July. Those talks may further intensify, now that Yahoo may no longer be in play. (http://www.smartmoney.com/breaking-news/ON/index.cfm?story=ON-20080721-000487-1624 7/21)

MySpace is rolling out a couple of announcements this morning a day ahead of Facebook’s F8 developer conference. The first is confirmation of our story that they are supporting OpenID, although they aren’t releasing any details (It’s our belief that they will first issue OpenID IDs, and possibly become a relying party later).  The company is also announcing the launch of two new Data Availability integrations: Flixster and Eventful (we built what we believe is the first Data Availability app last month). (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/22/myspace-confirms-openid-support-launches-data-availability-on-flixster-and-eventful 7/22)

Justin.tv, one of the first live video streaming sites, has announced its 1 millionth registered user since its launch in March 2007.  Justin.tv has a number competitors, namely Stickam, Mogulus, and Ustream.tv, but has managed to keep a strong presence in the space (maintaining attention along the way with a number of media stunts). We’ve analyzed the competition several times. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/21/justintv-reaches-1-million-users 7/21)

Looking to become a conduit for other companies that want to get into the online-video arena, Comcast unit thePlatform has announced a series of deals to help other cable providers gain a toehold in the emerging market for Internet content. ThePlatform, a Seattle company that Comcast acquired two years ago, said it would begin delivering video to high-speed Internet subscribers with Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and Cox Communications. (The Wall Street Journal 7/22)

New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo is notifying Comcast that the state will take legal action if the company doesn't block access to adult content that features children. Comcast, the No. 2 U.S. Internet service provider, says it will take action. (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/21/AR2008072102623.html 7/22)

“While I continue to believe that the sale of the whole company or the sale of its search business in the right transaction must be given full consideration, I share the view that Yahoo’s valuable collection of assets positions it well to continue expanding its online leadership and enhancing returns to stockholders,” Mr. Icahn said in the statement. “I believe this is a good outcome and that we will have a strong working relationship going forward.”

Finally Yahoo can get down to business and get the legal bull from Wall Street off their back. Expect a fast resolution to a Microsoft deal or other transaction (hmm AOL..). Yahoo has to move on now and get back to competing.

The market is in the toilet and Yahoo's cofounder Jerry Yang is in charge again. Lets hope cofounder Jerry has some magic left.

Is Yahoo Serious?- A blow was dealt to Yahoo usurper Carl Icahn today when Legg Mason announced they would back Yahoo in a takeover bid.  Legg, which disclosed it owns 60.7 million shares of Yahoo, or 4.4 percent of outstanding shares, urged Yahoo and Icahn to settle their differences ahead of Yahoo's August 1 shareholders meeting.  If Microsoft wants to acquire Yahoo, it can make the terms and conditions of its offer public," Legg said in a statement. "If Yahoo shareholders support it, I am confident the board of Yahoo will accept it " (Technology:  Is Yahoo Serious). The firm's portfolio manager Bill Miller told Reuters last week Icahn would have more support if he promised not to sell Yahoo below $33 per share. He also urged Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) to make its offer public.  Legg backed Yahoo's actions since Microsoft made its $47.5 billion offer to buy Yahoo public earlier this year.  Okay?  What does Legg Mason know about the tech industry?  Aren't they the company that sponsors professional tennis matches and yacht racing?  Obviously that tool Jerry Yang, Yahoo's CEO, made some hefty promises to the folks at Mason or the hostile takeover would have come long ago.  Yang is dilirious if he thinks he can usher in the coming years as captain of Yahoo's wheelhouse.  He has single-handedly dragged the worth of his company to the bottom of the barrell due to his stubbornness and flighty visions.  If Yahoo's shareholders want to stay afloat as a privateer in a huge market they need to get rid of that geek Jerry Yang and the rest of his merry, pocket-protector pals, and that includes Legg Mason.  As of now, there aren't too many suitors interested in the fleeting company, or a battle with Icahn and Microsoft.  Google is drowning in finacial woes as stocks plunged today and nobody else has the liquid assets or minerals to step up and match Microsofts' offer, whether it be private or public.  Get serious Jerry.  Take the money and open up an internet cafe in the Bahamas.  If you don't you'll be serving coffee and donuts from a street cart in Frisco.

Time Warner, which recently announced plans to spin off its Time Warner Cable unit, now is in talks with Microsoft and Yahoo! about AOL, according to a source quoted by Reuters. Microsoft ostensibly would acquire AOL outright, while Yahoo! would merge the online service with its own operations. The New York Times/Reuters (7/16)

MTV Networks is continuing its effort to tie programming with music with the debut of Soundtrack.mtv.com, an online music guide that also acts as an archive and a preview of what songs to expect in shows over the next 24-hour period. The Hollywood Reporter/Billboard (7/16)

Time Warner's AOL is launching two new sites as part of its bid to grow advertising opportunities by serving niche audiences. The new WalletPop.com offers information on personal finance; Pixcetera.com, meanwhile, is devoted to high-quality professional photography. (Iwantmedia 7/16, http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080715/aol_web_sites.html 7/15)

The storyline of long enduring web show LonelyGirl15 will come to an end on August 1 more than two years after Bree first peaked online viewers curiosity. Creators Miles Beckett and Greg Goodfried, who also wrote KateModern, are working on a new story and cast of characters and felt the need to put the original yarn to bed once and for all. (Cynopsis 7/16)

Online film portal Jaman signed its first major studio deal with Paramount per Variety, offering new and library titles such as Cloverfield and The Hours for rental at $2.99-$3.99 per movie. (Cynopsis 7/16)

BlogHer, an online network of female bloggers, has announced a partnership with iVillage and Women@NBCU, a new content and marketing intiative by NBC Universal. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/16/blogher-inks-deal-with-nbc-universal-raises-5-million 7/16)

Digital entertainment studio Deca launched a new website and online show dedicated to massive multiplayer gaming beginning with World of Warcraft, dubbed Project Lore. Alex Albrecht will host the daily show, clueing in fans to tips, cheats and tricks. (Cynopsis 7/16)

Project Lore Introduction

Samsung is sponsoring a new 3-part web series on Break.com called Ballpark Invasion, featuring insider tours of Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and San Francisco's Giants Park. The gist is to demonstrate how useful Samsung's multimedia Instinct phone is at capturing memorable moments at the ballpark. (Cynopsis 7/16)

Cox Communications, in the process of building its own broadband backbone, expects to finish the work by the end of the year. The completion of the 13,000-mile route will connect most of the company's major systems and is expected to give it far more autonomy to handle its capacity needs. Light Reading (7/15)

Microsoft's estimate that a combined Google and Yahoo search engine would control 90% of the search market is pretty spot on, according to the latest Hitwise search market share analysis. Google and Yahoo combined for 88.79% of the search market last month. (Cynopsis 7/16)

Percentage of U.S. Searches Among Leading Search Engine Providers
Domain       June-08        May-08        June-07
Google        69.17%        68.29%       63.92%
Yahoo         19.62%        19.95%       21.31%
MSN             5.46%*        5.89%*       9.85%*
Ask.com        4.17%         4.23%         3.42%
Note: Data is based on four week rolling periods (ending 6/28/08, 5/31/08, 6/30/07 from the Hitwise sample of 10 million U.S. Internet users.  * - includes executed searches on Live.com and MSN Search but does not include searches on Club.Live.com.
Source: Hitwise

Top 10 Parent Companies/Divisions for June 2008 (U.S., Home and Work)
Parent             Unique Audience (000)    Time Per Person (hh:mm:ss)
1. Google                   128,029                   1:50:16
2. Microsoft                123,021                   2:12:38
3. Yahoo!                   113,439                   3:07:47
4. Time Warner*           99,494                  3:23:24
5. News Corp. Online     80,606                  1:55:40
6. InterActiveCorp         63,935                  0:20:22
7. eBay                        62,767                  1:47:53
8. Wikimedia                52,836                   0:21:09
9. Amazon                   52,060                   0:28:03
10.Apple Computer       49,911                   1:08:33
*Time Warner division excludes Turner Network's audience
Source: Nielsen Online

Average U.S. Internet Usage, Combined Home & Work, Month of June 2008
Home & Work,June   Home & Work,May   % Change
Sessions/Visits per Person              58                           59                   -1.7
Domains Visited per Person            107                         105                    1.9
Web Pages per Person                 2,373                     2,335                    1.6
Duration of a Web Page Viewed   0:00:53                 0:00:53                   -1.1
PC Time per Person                   65:58:23               66:02:45                  -0.1
Active Digital Media Universe     164 million           166.5 million                 -1.5
Current Digital Media Universe   223.1 million          222.3 million                 0.4
Source: Nielsen Online

After making all that fuss about bringing an offer, Yahoo spurned another proposal from Microsoft on Saturday, this one brought jointly with Carl Icahn as a 24 hour take-it-or-leave-it ploy. The deal called for a complex restructuring of the company that would have given Microsoft control of Yahoo's search business and what was left to Icahn and his dissident slate of replacement board members. So in other words, they were asking Roy Bostock and Jerry Yang to sell off its most valuable asset then fire themselves. And Microsoft sent a man they view as a shameless corporate raider as the messenger. In its rejection letter Yahoo dismissed the proposal as "erratic and unpredictable" and questioned Mr. Icahn and his alternative board members' ability to run the technology firm in the wake of such a fire sale. (Cynopsis 7/14)

In the background throughout Microsoft’s neverending Yahoo courtship has been the News Corp factor. Yahoo ran to Google to avoid an MS tie-up first time ‘round; could it also seek solace in Rupert Murdoch’s arms? It’s “very unlikely”, Rupe said (via Reuters) at Allen & Co’s Sun Valley shindig. (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-murdoch-on-yahoo-microsoft-will-walk-away-deal-with-us-unlikely 7/11)

Time Warner's AOL is "definitely looking prettier" to both Yahoo and Microsoft this morning, as the latest round of talks by the tech giants to partner in some way have collapsed yet again. AOL is described as "the number two choice of both of them." (http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080714/is-jeff-bewkes-now-the-belle-of-the-microhoo-ball 7/14)

TechCrunch is said to be in off-and-on acquisition talks with Time Warner's AOL. Heather Harde, CEO of the tech industry blog founded by Michael Arrington, says: "My policy is not to comment on rumors." AOL acquired Jason Calcansis's Weblogs Inc. in 2005. (Iwantmedia 7/14,http://kara.allthingsd.com/20080711/paidcontents-rafat-ali-speaks-so-heres-whos-next/ 7/11)

If behavioral targeting is the great hope for display advertising on the Web, can it work for videos as well? Web video startup Veoh thinks it can and is bringing its behavioral targeting advertising program out of beta today. The ads are targeted at one of nine groups, including viewers interested in action videos, cars, pop culture, sci fi, anime, and family fare. (http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/07/14/veoh-targets-video-ads-based-on-past-viewing-patterns 7/14)

Viacom wants to know which videos YouTube employees have watched and uploaded to the site, and Google is refusing to provide that information. The dispute is said to be the reason the two companies have failed to reach a final deal on anonymizing the personal data of YouTube users. (Iwantmedia 7/14,http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-9989783-93.html?hhTest=1 7/12)

VH1 will pay tribute to The Who on Tuesday streaming sneak peek performances by Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, The Flaming Lips, Incubus and Jack Black's Tenacious D taped on Saturday at UCLA, two days before the performances air in a tribute show on July 17. Rainn Wilson will host the coverage on Rock.VH1.com, featuring an exclusive jam session with The Who.  Additionally VH1 has launched a new Facebook app called VH1 Framed You, allowing users to insert their own images in photos and videos of rock stars. It's sort of digital version of those cut outs you see at beach. (Cynopsis 7/14)

I advise not adding the Facebook app which only gives you a few frames to choose from.  Among them, only 1 is female.  Lame.

Chelmsford, MA-based online music discovery service OurStage unveiled a new matchmaking tool to help musicians find and apply for gigs. The OurStage Marketplace will work in conjunction with promoter Live Nation using the site's user-based "Mojo" rating system to help national bands scout up-and-coming local acts to open their shows. The system will serve venues in New England, Denver and the San Francisco Bay Area to begin with. (Cynopsis 7/14)

Walt Disney Co. in October will release a 50th anniversary edition of the classic "Sleeping Beauty" animated movie on Blu-ray disc. The disc will showcase a half-century of progress in consumer-electronic technology: It will enable viewers to interact with each other via a new system called BD Live that links the disc with the Internet. (The New York Times 7/14)

Kevin Martin, head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, says he will seek "enforcement action" against Comcast for slowing down heavy Internet users who are downloading movies and other large data files. The cable giant used "too blunt an instrument," says Martin. (Iwantmedia 7/14, http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/24585014.html 7/12)

I'm betting Icahn will get his way to certain extent.

This puts a lot of pressure on Jerry Yang though. He has to look in the Google deal again, the alternative he has, unless some one else wants to jump in. They say The deal with Google has got a better monetary value and also lesser risk. And why not? Carl Icahn (an investor who bid for Yahoo along with Microsoft) had asked for the ouster of the entire top management of yahoo, if the deal got through. Google on the other hand promises a cash flow of $450million in the first year itself. No wonder or surprises in it. Google leads the online search engine marketing revenues by far.

Microsoft on the other hand might have received a shot in the butt :-P they have been trying to woo Yahoo for far too long, since the $44.6 billion bid by Steve Ballmer 6 month back was rejected. They have tried several times. However the trick here is, Yahoo doesn't seem to like to idea of seperating the search business from its core. Microsoft on the other hand has no interest other than the search engine as they are getting desperate to improve their position in SEM.

Well all eyes are on Carl Icahn now, as he tries to woo some more before the yahoo Share holders meeting next month. (Carl Icahn is one of the 9 board members of Yahoo)

Good Luck to Jerry Yang!

Isn't that essentially Yahoo!'s philosophy? You don't notice the fire so much when you're tripping over the furniture and admiring the odd new view.

As long as you can find your favorite outfit, it doesn't matter that your husband, lover, best friends are leaving you.

From the Yahoo! viewpoint, it's like shuffling a deck of cards when you've had a bad run at blackjack. Perhaps from the dealer's point of view, this is good, if the dealer is Google. It keeps the people you're playing with from counting cards and making statistical calculations. Business, however, isn't about luck. It is about calculations and statistics. Yahoo!'s stats do not look good.

As a matter of full disclosure, at one time, I worked for Yahoo!.  At my request, a state government agency is investigating their employment practices.

I've experienced a few reorganizations. When I left the company, I couldn't remember the name of the department nor the team that I worked for because the department and team names had been changed so often, that even some managers had a hard time identifying department names. Apparently, Yahoo!'s board hasn't read much Shakespeare, where even the 13-year-old Juliet knew names really do not matter.

I came on as an Associate Editor; I left as a Search Enhancement Associate. What is a Search Enhancement Associate? That's just another obfuscation. It looks nice because several different categories of workers in the same pay bracket can be classified by this phrase and yet, let's face it, on a resume it means nothing. I wonder how much time was spent thinking up that job label.

New names, same faces and unfortunately, too often, same dumb strategies. Well, not all the same faces. According to PC World, in the reorganization announced on 26 June 2008, obviously some old faces weren't going to be around with this latest re-org including:

• Jess Weiner, Executive Vice President of Yahoo!'s Network Division
• Vish Makhijani, Senior Vice President of Search
• Qi Lu, Executive Vice President for Search and Advertising Technology
• Usama Fayyah, Executive Vice President
• Stewart Butterfield and Caterina Fake who helped create Flickr
• Brad Garlinghouse, Senior Vice President for Communications and Communities

Garlinghouse wrote the infamous peanut butter manifesto.

Is this re-org caused by the defection of these people or is it just a matter of habit? If you haven't been keeping track, Yahoo! also had a major reorganization at the beginning of December 2006. Terry Semel was still chairman and chief executive officer at that time. The press release claimed four main objectives:

* Expand customer-centric culture and capabilities -- Yahoo! will develop rich experiences for each audience segment and deliver solutions to meet the needs of all advertisers and publishers worldwide. Yahoo! will organize its services around audience segments and advertising customers, rather than around products.

* Create leading social media environments -- Yahoo! will leverage its strong positions in community, communications, search, as well as media content across its global network to create leading social media environments, which will encourage every user on the Yahoo! network to participate in the consumption and publishing of information, and knowledge through tagging, reviewing, sharing of images and audio, and other social media activities.

* Lead in next-generation advertising platforms -- Yahoo! will extend its industry-leading breadth of offerings to give the most diverse array of advertisers, from large brand marketers to local merchants, every opportunity to connect with audiences on and off Yahoo!.

* Drive organizational effectiveness and scale -- Yahoo! will recruit and retain the best industry talent and focus its resources on high-impact, network-wide platforms to help capture the most significant long-term growth opportunities.

Somehow they don't seem to be able to recruit and retain the best talent. Granted, Semel did get Tom Cruise to Sunnyvale in January 2006, which was after his May 2005 couch-jumping but before Katie Holmes became an unwed mother in April 2006. Despite the coup which was meant, I suppose, to help Yahoo!'s newly launched Answers, I think more Answers about Tom Cruise can be found on Gawker.com although, to be fair, the Scientology video was posted in February of this year, 2008.

In June 2007, Yahoo! unloaded chairman and CEO Terry Semel, who, after five years, had earned $500 million and had stock options worth $70 million according to Wikipedia. That touched off a reorg that brought Jerry Yang, Chief Yahoo and Yahoo! co-founder, to the CEO position. In February 2008, Yahoo's re-org included downsizing, unloading about a thousand people. Under Jerry Yang and Sue Decker these people weren't offered the Golden Parachute that Yahoo! had been negotiating for its other full-time employees with Microsoft as reported by CNET on 19 February 2008.

The golden parachute was not for those employees who had been laid off on 12 February 2008 such as myself. It was for those remaining employee should they lose their jobs in a Microsoft buyout.

Maybe Yahoo! should be less concerned with retaining the employees they have, particularly since some are leaping from what looks like a sinking ship, and checking into what those employees are doing and have been doing wrong.

According to the PC World article:

Reporting to President Sue Decker will be three new teams:

-- the Audience Products Division, which will oversee product strategy and product management and will be led by Ash Patel, former manager of Yahoo's Platforms & Infrastructure group;

-- the U.S. region, which will be led by Hilary Schneider, previously chief of the company's Global Partner Solutions group; and

-- Insights Strategy, which is in charge of centralizing and executing "a common strategy for the use of data and analysis across Yahoo," and the chief of which will be named later.

The new organizational structure will improve Yahoo's products and speed up decisions, the company said.

Apparently the customer-centric policies of June 2007 weren't so effective. I and every employee of Yahoo! did receive a purple card to remind us of our purpose in the house of purple. One one side it reads:

Our Purpose (in orange)
Yahoo! powers and delights our communities of users, advertisers and publishers--all of us united in creating indispensable experiences, and fueled by trust.
YAHOO!

The other side reads:

OUR VALUES
Excellence, Innovation, Customer Fixation, Teamwork, Community, Fun
OUR BEHAVIORS
Delight, Decide, Deliver,
Act as One Yahoo!

I wonder how much time and money was spent on those little "Our Purpose" cards, made to fit on our lanyards along with our ID cards. Looking at this all now, it reminds me of that IBM commercial about "ideating."

09.07.2008

And while Googlers can't claim that their shit don't stink, they can say that their butts don't. Forget about the Google Bot, we're talking Google Butt. Yes, Google employees' butts are smiling because they're getting some pretty hot toilet seats. Check out the the Washlette.

Check out HateThePlayer's Others Pimpass Blog Posts here.

Yang, que Icahn substituirá se sua tentativa de depor o conselho der certo, afirmou que o Yahoo! não vai olhar nenhuma proposta da Microsoft e chamou de "instável" a aparente relutância da empresa de software de negociar. Segundo Yang, consultores das duas empresas se reuniram na semana passada, mas não há negociações formais entre elas.

Ontem, a Microsoft afirmou em comunicado que poderia retomar as conversas com o Yahoo! se o conselho da empresa for trocado. "Depois da eleição de acionistas em agosto, a Microsoft poderia se interessar em discutir com um novo conselho uma grande transação com o Yahoo!", disse a Microsoft no comunicado.

Yang precisa convencer os acionistas de que o conselho deve permanecer, mesmo com a Microsoft tendo aparentemente fechado as portas para fazer um acordo com ele. Grandes investidores têm questionado se Yang deve continuar como presidente-executivo. "Acho que eu posso trazer a estabilidade de volta ao Yahoo!", disse Yang. "Acho que a desestabilização por parte da Microsoft tem sido cada vez mais intencional." As informações são da Dow Jones.

Fonte: yahoo

Gigantul Microsoft pre

 Foto: Jerry Yang

The more I learn about the Microsoft - Yahoo deal, the more I am forced to conclude that Yahoo is a sinking ship and the idea of staying independent, which is what Jerry Yang was trying to do - doesn't make sense anylonger.

Mr. Icahn’s solution to pull Yahoo back from a “precipice” remains ousting its board and replacing Jerry Yang as the company’s chief executive and a director. Any sort of sale — be it a full takeover or a more complicated breakup — would provide more shareholder value than Yahoo’s current search advertising tie-up with Google.

Microsoft confirmed in a statement Monday that it has held conversations with the billionaire over the past week, and it reiterated its belief that the Yahoo board has been too recalcitrant in their deal negotiations.

“We have concluded that we cannot reach an agreement with them,” Microsoft said.

I have an opinion about Corporation Boards (sitting on one, myself) and I think personality and leadership count for a lot - sometimes, a Board can be made up of members that drag the entire process down - all major issues have to have a quorum of those who agree, and that can be difficult to achieve if you have more than one or two people on the Board, that don't agree on basic objectives.

I'd say, time for Jerry Yang and the Yahoo! Board to leave - and I don't think anyone would miss them.

Frankly, I can't imagine a worse result than the one Yahoo! has now - and it's just dying a slow death - might as well just sell what's left to Microsoft.

That's my two cents - for whatever it's worth.

The whole thing just gets more and more dramatic -- the lack of teen girls notwithstanding. Today, Carl Icahn, who holds a large stake in Yahoo, released a letter to Yahoo shareholders where he says he has spent, like, HOURS on the phone with Ballmer, who was still totally interested in Yahoo. But Ballmer's, like, so worried that Yang and current Yahoo management might "mismanage" the company during the time it takes to get a deal done (because The Federal Trade Commission can take FOREVER, ya know?)

And Ballmer is putting, like, a ton of dough on the line here, so he needs, like, some kind of assurance that Yang and Co. aren't going to go screw things up. And in the last attempts, he just didn't get that, ya know? So Ballmer just HAD to walk away, right? But with a different board, you know, like Icahn's board? Then, maybe Microsoft could forget about the past and get a deal done. In his letter Icahn says:

I strongly believe that in very short order the new board would, subject to its fiduciary duties, be presenting to shareholders either a purchase offer for the whole company or a very attractive offer to purchase "Search" with large guarantees. I hope to continue to be speaking to Steve over the next few weeks; however, since I do not as yet represent the Yahoo! board, both Steve and I do not wish to get into details over price, or even which of these transactions makes the most sense.

So Icahn, who has, like totally, put up his own slate of directors who would work with Ballmer, could really make this deal happen if shareholders would just, you know, LISTEN to him and vote for his board. Totes!

BTW, the whole crew, including Google and AOL guys, will be in Sun Valley this week for the swanky Allen & Co. media conference. It's like a high-power slumber party where deals get done and the press gets excluded. Maybe Yang will ditch Ballmer and Icahn for Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes who head AOL. Tune in next week for the latest on Gossip Guys.

Update: Microsoft issued its own statement backing Icahn. If Icahn gains control of the board at the Aug. 1 shareholder meeting, Ballmer would talk deals again, either buying just the search assets or possibly the whole company.

Update 2: Yahoo tells Ballmer, "If you want a deal, say that to my face."

Bien qu'elle ne garantisse pas une transaction, Microsoft se dit ouverte à négocier avec une nouvelle direction mais serait incapable d'en venir à une entente avec la direction actuelle.

Le communiqué mentionne aussi ceci "Nous confirmons, toutefois, qu'après une nouvelle élection de membres de la direction par les actionnaires, que Microsoft serait intéressé à discuter avec la nouvelle direction de Yahoo.  Cela pourrait être l'achat des fonctions de moteur de recherche avec de grandes implications financières ou dans l'alternative l'achat complet de la compagnie".

The first condition is a stable political environment. There can not be any long-term political stability without the consent of the governed. This consent must be reaffirmed periodically, not later than 4-6 years. When a government looses the confidence of the governed, there must be a peaceful transfer of power as and when necessary. A single party in power breeds corruption, cronyism and stalemate, no matter how well intentioned. No country in the world has sustained growth and prosperity over long periods of time, without a political consensus. How many of the BRIC countries would qualify in this test?

The second and probably the most important condition is the 'Rule of Law'. Every country must have a written 'Constitution', giving equal protection to all it's citizens under all circumstances. There must be an independent Judiciary, capable of interpreting the laws and providing justice to all including the foreigners and international agreements. The government must be accountable to the Courts and Justices. The Executive and the Legislator must stand by the law of the land. Without the rule of law and the transparency of justice, long term trade and agreements can not be sustained. Where do BRIC countries stand on this?

Another important condition for the 'Emerging Economies', is the development of Intellectual Infrastructure. We are not just talking about basic educational institutions, we are talking about the world-class universities and research laboratories. How many countries around the world have centers of excellence like Stanford, Harvard, MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Cambridge and Oxford? How many countries produce innovators like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jerry Yang, Larry Page and Sergey Brin? Would Brazil, Russia, India and China, encourage students from around the world to come to their Universities and do research, find jobs, raise families and then become full citizens of their countries?

Immigration has been the foundation of an idea called "America". The United States of America was founded by immigrants. Few would know that even their 'Revolutionary War' for independence was fought by Irish immigrants who were not even born in America. Hundreds of thousands of people come to The United States every year and over time become permanent residents and finally citizens of this country. It is the genius of these immigrants, that has fired the imagination of this country. Immigrants have rejuvenated the creative instincts of this 'Economic Power House'. If BRIC countries and others around the world aspire to be the great powers of the 21st Century, they would have to learn to live with others, in peace and harmony.

"Shpigler, you shark, what do you think about the deal ? You know, the big deal ..."

Un personnage haut en couleur donne ses conseils avertis à Jerry Yang.

How to Negotiate - Tips for Yahoo!

No mais recente episódio da novela “MicroHoo”, o clima estava fervendo nas dependências da empresa fundada por Jerry Yang e David Filo.

A atual diretoria da empresa deu início nesta segunda-feira (30) a uma ofensiva para mostrar a seus maiores acionistas que tomou a decisão certa ao rejeitar a oferta de US$ 47,5 bilhões da Microsoft.

Alguns acionistas da empresa estão irritados com a recusa. Um deles é o megainvestidor Carl Icahn (acima, de gravata e com olhar um tanto perturbador). Ele lançou uma campanha para substituir os executivos do Yahoo! e, se vencer o páreo, pretende afastar nada menos que Jerry Yang, executivo-chefe da companhia, segundo nota da Folha Online.

A briga não vai ser fácil. O Sr Icahn, um famoso especialista em aquisições de controle acionário, parece tão bilionário (é um dos 50 mais ricos do mundo) quanto turrão. Um pequena prova disso é a carta que ele escreveu recentemente para o chairman do Yahoo! publicada em maio no USA Today. Começa assim: “Eu ando cético sobre a efetividade de muitos conselhos e CEOs neste país e, como conseqüência, a habilidade de nossas companhias de competir”. E por aí vai…

Outra pista? Leia um dos últimos posts publicado pelo próprio investidor no seu blog, The Icahn Report. Título: Sobre CEOs – Metáfora Anti-Darwiniana – Sobrevivência dos Mais Fracos.

Serviço de Utilidade Pública: se você concorda com a decisão do Yahoo! de mandar a Microsoft às favas, pode enviar um comentário para o blog do Sr Icahn ou um email para ele (carl@icahnreport.com).

The result was that in the good times Yahoo went on a totally random spending spree with no idea how all the acquisitions fitted together. As I have said before this approach has meant they lucked out and got hold of delicious and Schachter for an absolute bargain $30m. Unfortunately they then proceeded to do nothing with the only tool which could make any meaningful impact on search with the result that the man who created it subsequently left the company.

Sculley's ghost

When they hit trouble their first instinct was to kick out Terry Semel and reinstall Jerry Yang as CEO. Presumably the idea was some kind of John Sculley/Steve Jobs mojo but the plan had one minor flaw: Yang is not Jobs. To a large extent companies reflect their leaders' personality. So Microsoft likes to overcomplicate and have fifty different versions of everything, Apple is ultra secretive and design focused and Yahoo can't make a decision on anything. After a year of fudging all Jerry's fudge has caught up with him and it looks like the fudgathon is likely to end with a much deserved boot up his backside.

There is no doubt that Yahoo has a lot of good properties which make decent money. They have almost nothing to do with each other so why not spin them all out as separate companies and set them free from Yahoo's bureaucracy? Then at least they would be smaller and freer to innovate. It may not be the whole answer but with Yahoo going down they need some radical action not endless reorganisations.

Read more:
On Yahoo
On Microhoo
On Microsoft's biggest mistake
On Joshua Schachter

Pic: Forbes

23.06.2008

21.06.2008