Yahoo! Not so Enthusiastic about Current Business

Although Yahoo! used to be one of the internet giants, it has recently been viewed as a cyber “basket case”. The company heavily relied on advertising to generate revenue, rather than a heavy flow of traffic from an increasing number of visitors to the website. Internet companies were willing to throw caution to the wind, in certain respects, because they felt confident in buying an advertisement on the Yahoo website. However, when these companies soon started realizing that traffic was not getting them enough business, many of them backed out and discontinued to advertise. Yahoo faced another challenge because they defined themselves as a media company when clearly, they were a programming/technology company. Their identity was not clearly established. Even though they operated as a software and technology business, the fear of the giant Microsoft Company deterred them from associating as such a company. If the company had chosen to seek out traffic and gain more hits from internet surfers, then they would probably not suffer such a loss when other start-up businesses stopped asking for as many advertisements. The ambiguity of job description was a hindrance to the company, as well as its lack of vision for where the company was going. The valuable lesson that can be learned from this company is that goals and visions must be clearly established in the beginning. And when it comes to internet business, (which most companies are switching to, or at least including,) then customer attraction is a key component of success. Yahoo should have maybe focused on retaining heavy traffic, rather than prompting businesses to seek advertisement. Yahoo is not doomed to an “extinct internet dinosaur” title, IF they react quickly and appropriately. However, they must clearly define their goals, and act swiftly to counteract the damage of the company.