Yahoo to meet the challenge and hope the new CEO

Recently, foreign Media magazine said that in the past week and a half, Yahoo has solved the long-standing troubles of the company's two disputes. At present, Yahoo also ushered in the new interim CEO, Yahoo hopes that the new transition CEO can focus on the future of the biggest challenges, take Yahoo out of the difficulty ushered in the spring, so that Yahoo will be able to attract advertisers budget entertainment and Information Center, reversing the trend of advertising revenue decline.

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Transition to media company

The forced resignation of Yahoo's former CEO Scott Thompson Scott Thompson and Bartz (Carol Bartz) are considered technical experts. Unlike them, Ross Levinson (Ross Levinsohn) has managed the Internet business of mainstream media companies such as CBS and News Corp.

People close to the Levin Thorn said he is committed to developing autonomous video programs and signing more cooperation agreements to get higher advertising prices. There are signs that Yahoo thinks it is more of a media company than a technology company. For example, sources say Levinson plans to stay in Los Angeles instead of moving to the company's Silicon Valley headquarters.

"Levin Thorne is a media industry, and our business model is to sell display ads," said an insider at Yahoo. His promotion indicates that we are currently a media company. ”

Yahoo appointed Levinson as CEO on May 13. On the same day, Yahoo resolved a proxy dispute with Daniel Le Boux, the activist investor, which offered 3 board seats. In Monday, Yahoo and Alibaba Group reached an agreement to sell Alibaba Group half of its 40% stake in the company.

Levinson is 49 years old. He declined the interview request, but said to Yahoo employees that he would announce more strategies within a few weeks. Long-term Yahoo employees say that while Yahoo's future is difficult, the resolution of two disputes and the strength of Levin Thorn in the advertising industry will give the company a better chance.

Focus on content

Industry executives and Yahoo Investors said Levinson's choices were few, apart from turning Yahoo into a media and advertising company. Jonathan Miller, chief digital officer at News Corp, said: "When you need to transform, especially in the Internet industry, there are only a few ways to solve this problem." Jonasan Miller In Yahoo's case, you think the market gap may have been filled, such as becoming the market's first social networking company, or the market's first search engine. Yahoo is also unlikely to be a mobile platform. ”

"There is still room for development in the digital media industry, and Yahoo can occupy that space," he said. Levinson has the relevant background and skills to drive Yahoo's development in this area. ”

With the development of search advertising and interactive advertising, the advertising industry is showing a decline. But according to emarketer data, the US advertising market was still up to $12.4 billion trillion last year and will grow to $15.4 billion this year. However, Yahoo's market share is falling as advertisers turn to companies such as Google and Facebook. EMarketer estimates that Yahoo's share of the advertising market in the United States this year is 9.1%, below last year's 10.8%.

Video advertising has a better prospect. Last year, video advertising accounted for 6.3% per cent of the U.S. online advertising market, compared with an annual growth rate of over 50%. Levinson has signed an agreement with media companies such as ABC to broadcast more original content. The reason for Yahoo to do so is simple. Yahoo now has 25 of the most popular network series in the United States 21, the first quarter revenue growth of 1% per cent year-on-year. It is the first year-on-year increase in Yahoo's quarterly revenue since 2008.

A Yahoo shareholder said: "In the process of moving from user-made content to paid content, it can be found that the goal of Levinson is to continue to be free and to adopt an ad-supported model because size is important here." I think Levinson's approach is correct. "In addition, Yahoo wants to improve the flow of other content sites, including the first U.S. News, sports and financial sites."

Levinson's Past

Levinson grew up outside New Jersey and graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., where he worked as a media and technology executive at AltaVista and CBS Sportsline. Before joining Yahoo, Levinson was known for pushing News Corp to acquire MySpace. After News Corp's 580 million dollar takeover of MySpace, Levinson soon reached a deal with Google that would allow MySpace to earn 900 million dollars in 3 years.

MySpace quickly declined, and News Corp sold the company last year at a price of 35 million dollars. The price is only 1/3000 of the market value of Facebook's Friday IPO. However, Levinson himself has not much to do with the slide in MySpace, and he has not been criticized.

Levinson was at a disadvantage inside News Corp, as he COO to News Corp Pitt Chenin Peter Chernin, and MySpace founder Chris Devolf (Chris DeWolfe) could communicate directly with Mr Murdoch. Mr Murdoch was very trusting of Devolf and his partner, Tom Anderson, Anderson that they would not make mistakes.

With Murdoch's full support, Devolf and his team rejected the change that Levin Thorne hoped for. As MySpace's innovation has stalled, Levinson decided to leave News Corp and join the venture capital firm Velocity Interactive. The company was subsequently renamed Fuse Capital.

Fuse Capital Partner Coye Pater Keyur Patel, however, said Levinson was not good at early investment in start-ups. Only a few of the companies Fuse capital invested were eventually sold, and none of the companies listed. "There are some deals that are risky," Patel said. No company has caused a sensation. ”

Some sources say Levinson is rarely angry and is deeply influenced by News Corp's corporate culture, which is more about personal loyalty than short-term performance. Since joining Yahoo in 2010, he has been in charge of a 5 to 1 acquisition of a company invested in fuse capital, and has recruited James Heckman, a veteran of the news group, to be James Heckman.

He also hired Mitch Rosen, another former executive of News Corp, Mickie Rosen. Rosen previously created the parity service Tecca. In his first days as Yahoo's CEO, Levinson told employees that Rosen would be responsible for content and business cooperation in the future, and would also be in charge of Yahoo's consumer payments business.

Levinson did not attack Thompson and the business he launched after taking office, although Thompson was seen as a destructive force by some Yahoo insiders. "E-commerce is an important growth opportunity for us," he said. This business must be combined with Yahoo's entire experience and close to our main source of traffic. "(Chu Yue)