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Yahoo is a desperate, but certainly not lost cause

Posted by Mario Sgambelluri on November 19, 2008 at 03:00 PM PDT

2 comments, Latest by Jay Friedman

Over at Forbes they've got a catchy piece, "Yahoo's Five Biggest Mistakes." They blame the company's woes on missed acquisition opportunities (Google, DoubleClick), hiring Semel and turning down Microsoft's bid (Yahoo's stock, by the way is now 63 percent below Microsoft's offer).

Does anyone else think Forbes missed the mark?

I realize Yahoo's a big, complex company. And there are thousands of reasons any company soars or struggles. But to me, Yahoo's biggest mistake was venturing too far from what made them successful.

Yahoo came to prominence as an infomediary. They were the smart kid in school that knew all the answers, knew where to find everything. Then that kid grew up and moved to Hollywood to be a star (yes, that was Semel's call… to transform Yahoo into a media company). What Yahoo should have done is try to connect all the people that were coming to them for answers. You know, build a social network.

The social network ship has pretty much sailed. But that doesn't mean Yahoo is finished. There are other ways to connect people looking for guidance online. Just look at Yahoo Answers, arguably the company's biggest hit in recent years. A few more of those, a partnership with Apple here, a Google gaffe there, and we could be talking about the greatest turnaround in the web's short history.

To end on another positive note, check out Complex Magazine's "5 Reasons We Still Like Yahoo."

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