The Internet's 'original' search property, Yahoo! has its origins at Stanford University, where its two founders, David Filo and Jerry Yang, were studying Electrical Engineering. They set up the guide in a campus trailer in 1994, compiling lists of their favourite links on the net. The lists became categories, then sub-categories, and 'Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web' was born. The name soon changed to encompass the idea of Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle = Yahoo!
The guide service's reputation spread beyond the campus and by the end of year they had registrered over a million hits a day. The two decided to set up a business and started talking to venture capitalists. In the Spring of 1995 Sequoia Capital, who had worked with many big names in Silicon Valley, invested $2 million.
By the end of the year Filo and Yang had raised further funding and the business was successfully launched as the first navigation guide to the web and claims to be the number one Internet brand, reaching the largest audience worldwide.
Source:
http://docs.yahoo.com / info / misc / history.html
Yahoo! News:
YAHOO!/ACNIELSEN INTERNET CONFIDENCE INDEX DECLINES SLIGHTLY FOR FIRST QUARTER 2002
Overall, the Index dropped four points during the first quarter to 111, compared to the fourth quarter of 2001.
While the slight decline was driven primarily by heavy Internet users who are less confident with online order fulfillment versus the prior study during the past holiday season, the Index is still higher than both the second and third quarter levels in 2001.
Source:
http://docs.yahoo.com / docs / pr / release960.html
YAHOO! ANNOUNCES MANAGEMENT TRANSITION FOR HOTJOBS March 26, 2002
Dimitri Boylan, 41, president and chief executive officer of HotJobs.com, Ltd, is stepping down from his position, effective March 31, 2002, to pursue new business opportunities. Boylan will work on a consulting basis until May 31, 2002 to assist with the current transition and ongoing integration.
Yahoo! is conducting an outside search for Boylan's replacement.
YAHOO! ANNOUNCE MOTOROLA SPONSORSHIP
March 18, 2002
Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news), producer and commercial marketer of FIFAworldcup.com, and Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the world governing body of soccer, today announced that Motorola, Inc. is sponsoring the Spanish-language area of www.FIFAworldcup.com, the Official Web site of the 2002 FIFA World Cup(TM).
In addition to Spanish, www.FIFAworldcup.com is offered to fans in English, French, German, Japanese and Korean. Motorola is the first company to sponsor a specific language section of www.FIFAworldcup.com.
YAHOO! AS POPULAR AS EVER
January 2003
Despite Google's growth, Yahoo! has remained a popular search engine and according to Nielsen//Net ratings, comes just short of tying with Google in terms of audience reach. In terms of search hours, Yahoo! is the third most used search engine.
If Yahoo! has suffered it is in terms of brand perception. While most search professionals would have once advised others to use Yahoo!, Google is now the search engine of choice.
Yahoo! have implemented some innovative changes, such as scrapping the 'directory-listings first' format, and have plans for more. With the acquisition of Inktomi the battle of the giants might be set to intensify.
YAHOO! ACQUIRES INKTOMI FOR $235 MILLION
March 2003
The current third-party that Yahoo! uses is Google, and while Yahoo! denies it, industry experts believe the acquisition of Inktomi may mark the end of this long-standing partnership.
YAHOO! INTRODUCES NEW YAHOO! SEARCH
April 2003
Yahoo! announces the launch of a new Yahoo! Search that uses a cleaner, easier-to-use interface and faster ways to find information. Perhaps one to rival Google?
YAHOO! TO BUY OVERTURE?
May 2003
Rumours are rife surrounding Yahoo!'s intention to acquire commercial search partner, Overture. Overture's share price has falled 30% since April due to reported mixed earnings and competition from Google.
An Overture buy-out would set Yahoo! against Google in the race to put search- and keyword-related advertising links across the Web.
Yahoo already boasts an unprecedented ability to track Web surfers' behavior (anonymously) and deliver contextual ads to them. Combined with Overture's ad-distribution network the duo would be well-placed to take on giant, Google.
This article was first published on 06 May 2003 and does not necessarily match current events or the current opinions and views of bigmouthmedia ltd.
