Photo: Marrisa Mayer
Yahoo, the former ruler of the internet and a leader in fields of email, search and online news, is currently in a very difficult situation.
This giant has lost the battle with the currently dominant Google and Facebook.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Yahoo dominated the internet media scene, but the value and the sales of the company since 2008 drastically decreased. Earnings of Yahoo in 2008 amounted to $7.2bn, while in 2015 figures dropped to only $4.6bn, according to the BBC.
The biggest reason for this situation is the dominance of Google and Facebook in online advertising, which have taken over the space where Yahoo derived substantial revenue. Meanwhile, a series of chief executives in the company came and went, attempting to carry out reforms but without any significant results.
Analysts predict that if the trend continues it could lead to the sacking of the current CEO Marissa Mayer, or even the end of the Yahoo brand itself.
Yahoo was founded in 1994 by former Stanford University students, Jerry Yang and David Filo, and in the beginning it functioned as one of the first web portals. Over time, however, Yahoo lost the race with new, more innovative rivals such as Gmail, Hotmail and finally WhatsApp. Drop in the popularity of Yahoo was additionally fuelled by Facebook and Twitter.
Yahoo is worth close to $33bn, but most of this falls to the share of the company in the Chinese e-commerce Alibaba. Several of Yahoo’s largest shareholders believe that CEO Mayer and her associates have got to go, and that it’s necessary to sell the core business of the company, which includes search and advertising business. In addition, a lay-off of 10% of employees was announced.
