Comments on: Yahoo as We Knew It is Dead

By: Flickr Founder Butterfield’s Resignation Letter Proves Money Can’t Buy Class : The Drama 2.0 Show

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 15:53:32 +0000

[...] Flickr, of course, was acquired by Yahoo in 2005 and Butterfield has joined the ranks of the Yahoo employees who have decided to leave following Microsoft’s failed acquisition bid and Yahoo’s capitulation to Google. [...]

By: Anon ex Y!

Anon ex Y! — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:51:22 +0000

There were some internal structures set up that made Y! not take the search business seriously and to VASTLY over value the directory business. The surfing group was practically deified. Therefore algorithmic search (which is a threat to an internal fiefdom with a large headcount and a powerful leader) was always played down and dismissed. Surfers got their picture in the WSJ and got interviewed by the NYT and the WaPo.

But at the end of the day algorithmic search gets people better results than a directory.

The big money was always in the verticals, not in the directory.

By: Drama 2.0

Drama 2.0 — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:33:40 +0000

Erik: I think you make a valid point in stating that Yahoo’s core competence was never search but I’m looking at this from a consumer perspective, not a technology perspective.

If you had asked people what Yahoo was back in 1999 it wouldn’t have been much different from the answer you’ll probably receive most today – a search engine.

Nobody cared who was providing the technology that powered Yahoo’s search.

Obviously, it has branched out quite a bit since then but Yahoo’s primary value proposition, as I see it, was: “we help you find information on the Internet.”

By: Erik

Erik — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:43:39 +0000

Y!’s core competence was never search.

Y! Search was Altavista
Y! search was Inktomi
Y! Search was google

Then they bought a search company.

They didn’t even realize search was a real business before google taught them.

Erik (Y! Alum 1997-2000)