Meanwhile, over in Sunnyvale, Yahoo! executives are looking for ways to remarket their machine. Once thought to be among the most solid search related firms on the web, Yahoo! looks more than a little stale when viewed from afar.
It has been a difficult and demoralizing year for Yahoo!. Since this time last autumn, they initiated discussions with three important distribution partners, only to see those sweet deals melt into Google’s gaping mouth. Yahoo! and Microsoft both tried to woo AOL and MySpace before Google closed those doors. Yahoo! was the first to enter and exit talks with YouTube and, its recent expression interest in Facebook appears to be derailing as talks between the two firms are said to be going sour.
Right now, it seems to me Yahoo!’s biggest problem is not Google. Yahoo!’s biggest problem involves retaining its position as the natural alternative to Google against Microsoft and Ask. Given Google’s popularity, name recognition and obvious plans, it is hard, if not absurd, to imagine Yahoo!, or anyone else for that matter, breaking through anytime soon.
There is no possible way Yahoo! executives (those who haven’t bolted for fairer pastures) are thinking they have a chance to surpass Google in any facet of the search market anytime soon. It’s not for lack of trying though. Unfortunately, Yahoo! is doomed by timing, sophistication and maneuverability. Google has them beat on all three counts.
Yahoo!, in the spirit of its smaller competitor Ask, has produced a series of TV commercials aimed at those of us who still watch traditional television. Many of the spots feature the tag line, “The NEW Yahoo.comâ€. The cool thing about these commercials is that they show the diversity in Yahoo!’s stable of products. The unfortunate thing is that they’ve had to produce them in the first place.
Yahoo! News and Information Commercial | Yahoo! Email Commercial | Yahoo! Music Playlist Commercial | Yahoo!! Music Frequalizer Commercial | Yahoo! Games Commercial | Yahoo! Answers Commercial (sort of spooky… just in time for Halloween) and the amazingly annoying, Yahoo! IM Commercial
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