Ya-Who?!?
How to put the Yahoo back into Yahoo!
Initially a leader in search, Yahoo! has been trailing behind Google for a number of years and is considered by many to be the “white bread” of search engines for its stale user experience and no-frills product. As a Yahoo! fan, I’d like to see the company rebound and give The Big G a run for its money. Below are a few important things that Google does well. Hopefully, Yahoo’s new CEO, Jerry Yang, is paying close attention.
Innovation
Google software engineers are expected to spend approximately 20% of their time on projects of their choice. This promotes creativity among employees, gets them thinking outside the box, and fosters a happy work culture. In addition, Google’s employee perks and programs raise the company’s coolness factor. Think about it: free gourmet food every day, a gym membership on campus and free transportation on the “Google Bus.” No wonder Google attracts the best and the brightest and enjoys remarkable loyalty. Yahoo! could add a bit of prestige to its brand by creating a number of novel employee incentives. How about a pet hotel? Free massage and spa services? Gourmet health food in the office?
Style
Both Apple and Google have taught us that good design is a true differentiator. Take a look at the colorful and clean Google logo as compared to Yahoo’s, which looks like it hasn’t been changed since 1994. Which one would you want to associate your Web habits with? In addition, Yahoo’s site tries to be all things to all people. There are dozens of options besides search, from shopping to chat to fantasy sports to finance. Yahoo! needs to streamline the user experience; Google’s homepage is proof that simplicity works and that users are willing to seek out the niche sites.
Business Model
Google realized early on that short-term profits should be sacrificed for long-term growth. Its revenue-sharing ad network leveraged vendor participation by sharing click-through profits, making it an easy choice above Yahoo!. Additionally, Google created dozens of new and innovative applications with a “create now, monetize later” policy, fostering the creation of new and innovative applications, which spread the Google brand around the world. Yahoo’s newest advertising system, Panama, is an improvement that has resulted in better advertising for its customers and higher revenue for the company. Yahoo! now needs to focus on its other weaknesses to leverage its current user-base and build its offerings to suit their needs.