Bartz: Yahoo Is the Largest Communications Engine in the World
by John Paczkowski
Posted on October 28, 2009 at 7:42 AM PT
Technical difficulties prevented me from liveblogging Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz’s appearance at of Yahoo’s investor day. Below is a summation of her remarks.
Much has changed at Yahoo since May 17, 2006, the last time the company held an investor day gathering. In May 2006, Yahoo’s shares traded at about $30 and the company claimed 28.98 percent of the U.S. search market. Today, its stock is worth a little over $16 and its share of the search market has fallen to 18.8 percent.
Ugly declines, both of them. Fitting then, that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz, speaking at the company’s first investor day gathering in three-and-a-half years, would describe the company’s future as “a journey back to respect.” “We are not here to wow you today,” Bartz said “We are here to intrigue you.”
What follows is a brief historical overview of Yahoo (YHOO)–“Yahoo was the big shining star, then wasn’t”–and then a redefinition of the company as that more intriguing entity to which Bartz referred earlier. “We are not a search company, we are not a display company,” she said. “We are a broad-based Internet company….We are the largest communications engine in the world.”
Communications engine? Sounds like a sneaky way of avoiding comparisons with Google (GOOG). Not that anyone makes them anymore.
Anyway, Bartz continues, playing up Yahoo’s scale, diversity of content and technology. “We combine amazing editorial with very sophisticated machine-learning,” she says. But what makes Yahoo most unique, says Bartz, is the company’s ability to learn from its mistakes. “We have fallen and we really want to get back up. If you haven’t had good times and bad times, you don’t know what you’re doing. We prefer the good times. We have passion to get back there. Today is the start of that.”
Comments
They sure are spending a lot of money advertising on AllThingsD.com…
Posted by Edward O'Meara at October 28th, 2009 at 7:57 amTrue, Yahoo, among a number of other companies, is an advertiser on All Things D. Our advertising department, however, is separate from the editorial department, and the two work independently.
Posted by John Paczkowski at October 28th, 2009 at 9:17 amToday is the beginning of a journey back to respect? The stock market obviously doesn’t think so. YHOO’s stock is down 2.5% this morning. If Yahoo wants my respect they can start by not destroying my data — especially without warning. More hot air BS from Carol Bartz.
Posted by Thomas Hawk at October 28th, 2009 at 11:19 amThanks for the clarification John, though I certainly didn’t say Editorial was influenced by Ad Sales side.
What I would say is that from a CMO’s point of view, buying ads is often interdependent with managing media relations (editorial).
And I would argue that road blocking the AllThingsD video ads is not in the same league as those ROS display ads being purchased by your other advertisers.
Posted by Edward O'Meara at October 28th, 2009 at 2:59 pmE:
I think there is almost no way you could say this site has not been tough on Yahoo.
We have broken pretty much all the major stories on them over the last two years and have been most vigilant in holding their feet to the fire.
There is zero link, as far as we are concerned, so Yahoo can knock itself out managing media relations. It just has no impact.
Posted by Kara Swisher at October 28th, 2009 at 5:51 pm