Yahoo Incorporated was founded by Jerry Yang and David Filo in 1994. Both of them were students at Stanford University. The acronym Yahoo stands for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle." (Smith and Graham, Internet Law and Regulation). Yahoo is among the leading internet service providers serving both businesses and individuals worldwide. The company brags to be among the largest provider of internet services globally and other integrated services. Yahoo internet search engines are available on World Wide Web. The company provides services to 500 million users around the world. Yahoo Incorporated provides its services in over twenty languages. The company's head office is in Sunnyvale, California. Yahoo Incorporated has offices in various nations in Latin America, Canada, Asia Pacific and Europe. Yahoo got incorporated in the year 1995. In 1996, Yahoo offered its shares to the public. The company got listed on National Association of Securities Dealers (NASDAQ). On the initial public offer, yahoo's stock traded at 13 dollar per share. By close of business of the day, Yahoo’s stock price rose to 33 dollars per share. In 1996, the company had only 49 employees. In 1999, the company was re-incorporated in Delaware. December the same year saw the company's stock listed on S&P 500 (Chadwick and Andrew, Internet Politics).
Yahoo has also entered into a number of joint ventures. One of them is with Softbank. Yahoo Japan got created through the joint ventures. Other markets created by Yahoo through joint ventures include the ones in United Kingdom, Germany, Korea, and France. GeoCities Japan Corporation is another joint venture between Softbank and Yahoo. The company has also created Yahoo Marketplace. Yahoo Marketplace is a platform where customers can buy products and services online. The venture is in partnership with VISA Company. Yahoo has also partnered with Seven Network Limited based in Australia. In the agreement, Yahoo provides internet services while Seven Network Limited provides magazine and television content. Yahoo owns fifty percent equity and the joint venture operate as Yahoo7. Yahoo invented a photo sharing website called Flickr. Users are able to post and share photos with their friends. Other services provided include instant messaging, video, music and web mail (Clay, Bruce and Suzan, Search Engine Optimization).
Comparative Analysis
The main competitors for Yahoo in the industry include MSN, AOL and Google. All these companies compete for the provision of internet services to customers. AOL is a limited liability corporation while MSN is a product of Microsoft Corporation. The companies may be involved in the same service provision, but their products differ. Yahoo visualizes itself as a portal company. The company's objective is to provide customers to the world of knowledge, communities and their passions. Google has a search engine that offers information to anyone having an internet connection. Google has the largest market in internet services provision among other contents. The automated search technology aids researchers to gain access to relevant information.
Google has been a leader in electronic business environment. It was after Google introduced their search engine that Yahoo came up with Yahoo Search in 2004. Microsoft’s MSN also launched MSN Search now popularly known as Windows Live. The most used search engine in the world remains Google. The company has garnered 53.7% of advertising revenue compared to Yahoo’s 2.7% and Windows Live 8.9%. About 87% of revenues earned by Yahoo come from the market service while 12% comes from fees.
Yahoo leads when it comes to the overall internet traffic in the world. Research reveals that Yahoo mail gets visited by approximately 345 million users every month. Yahoo is the leads in web mail services while Google leads in web search engines. MSN is the second most visited website but falls off the charts on search engine services. Research reveals that of all search engine users in the United States, only 10% use MSN. Since its inception, Yahoo has acquired over 28 companies compared to 5 acquired by Google. Google has only acquired private companies while Yahoo’s acquisitions have been both private and public companies. Among the companies acquired by Yahoo include Broadcast.com, ViaWeb, Yoyodyne, and HotJobs. All these acquisitions have made Yahoo gain a comparative advantage over its main competitors. Pyra Labs and Picasa are among the biggest private companies acquired by Google. The graph below shows how the three companies compete on different levels and who the comparative advantage each one of them has over the other (Chadwick and Andrew, Internet Politics).
Current Strategies
Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer has enabled the company to make major strides in the market by coming up with a number of strategies for the company. One of their key strategies is investing in the mobile industry. Yahoo has created applications to be used on mobile phones. The applications are usable on android, windows and iPhone Operating System (ios). Mobile users can access Yahoo services from their phones. This is a great step since the mobile industry has revolutionized the technology world. Individuals who cannot access computers find it easy to access their mails and Yahoo search engine using their phones. Those who find laptops bulky to carry also use their phones to access yahoo products (Clay, Bruce and Suzan, Search Engine Optimization).
Another strategy introduced by Marissa is the introduction of incentives to employees. The industry has stiff competition with new products being developed every now and then. Companies seek for employees with expertise in the technology market. Innovative and creative employees help the company to create new products for the market. The only way to keep such employees is by offering them attractive pay packages, good medical insurance schemes among other things. Yahoo strives to invest in new markets in the world. The Indian market and other Asian countries display potential for growth. The company promotes its products in such countries and is on a verge of setting up offices in those markets (Smith and Graham, Internet Law and Regulation).
Yahoo has been improving its products over time. Yahoo Sports and Yahoo Financial have witnessed a large number of users. Business persons, investors and entrepreneurs use Yahoo Financial to access financial trends in different markets. Stock prices of different companies on the stock exchange markets are constantly updated. Yahoo Sports provides sports updates all over the world. Sports fanatics can get to follow and latest news about their teams. Tumblr, the blog site, is getting many members by the day. Users of Flickr find it interesting since they can share pictures.
Yahoo Business Model
Yahoo has its focus on three four products. These products are in line of communication, entertainment, information, commerce and search engines. The company generates 38% of its revenues from communication. The Yahoo web mail and Yahoo messenger are great products that have spurred the company to be a leader in web trafficking. The services offer users a chance to exchange files, send messages and chat online. The company has continually improved the outlook of its web mail. Under entertainment, Yahoo has online television services, music and games. One can listen to music and radio stations in the United States on the website. There are links to celebrity news and what is taking place in the entertainment world. Users can also play online games on the website. Flickr makes it possible for users to post their photos and share them with whoever they want. The entertainment segment of yahoo attracts about 39% of its one billion internet users (Clay, Bruce and Suzan, Search Engine Optimization).
The world today is focused on economic development and progress. Businessmen and other interested parties seek for information about different markets, products and services. Yahoo considered the need and demand for commerce related information. On the business segment, Yahoo has experts who pose their views on various economic factors. Recommendations and views from users are also encouraged. Entrepreneurs and are updated on market trends. Yahoo Finance also focuses on the stock exchange markets. Information on company take-overs, mergers and acquisitions can be found on this site. The search engine is another product generated by Yahoo to counter Google's search engine. The search engine provides relevant information sought by users.
Strengths and Weaknesses of the Company
Yahoo attracts many users from its advertising business. Products and services are advertised on their website. Users who have Visa cards are able to purchase products online. Yahoo has about one billion users who rely on its marketing services. Users associate well with the company since it recognized brand a decade now. Its international presence also makes the company profitable. Yahoo has explored and set up offices in Europe, Asia and Australia. Yahoo directory enables users to make searches on location, hotels, and companies among other things. The unique thing about Yahoo’s directory is that websites undergo vetting to be included on Yahoo’s website (Clay, Bruce and Suzan, Search Engine Optimization).
The company experiences a number of setbacks. One of the setbacks experienced by yahoo is product differentiation. Most of the products offered by Yahoo are available elsewhere. Google and MSN offer services like search engines and web mails. The news on their site can be read or watched from CNN OR BBC.
Recommendations
With competition getting stiffer by the day, Yahoo should generate new products and improve the available ones. The company should study the market requirements and the advantage the leading rivals bear. Making mobile products will go a long way to increase the company's profitability. Mobiles have become popular among individuals, and there is a need to for the company to invest in mobile industry. The company can also partner with mobile companies and come up with viable applications. Investments in new markets should be encouraged to increase the company's popularity (Smith and Graham, Internet Law and Regulation).
Works Cited
Chadwick, Andrew J. Internet Politics: States, Citizens, and New Communication Technologies. New York [u.a.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2006. Internet resource. http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/ogandy/Gandy%20and%20Farrall.pdf
Clay, Bruce, and Susan Esparza. Search Engine Optimization All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Internet resource. http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118024419.html
Financial Reporting and Analysis + Thomsonone Printed Access Card. South-Western Pub, 2012. Print. http://www.abebooks.com/Financial-Reporting-Analysis-Using-Accounting Information/11949036638/bd
Reilly, Frank K, and Keith C. Brown. Investment Analysis and Portfolio Management. Mason, Ohio: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. http://www.cengagebrain.co.nz/content/9781133792598.pdf
Smith, Graham J. H. Internet Law and Regulation. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2007. Print.
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