It is a question that you may have asked yourself, “What is the fact about Yahoo!” as we continue to talk of its recent performance and future plans. After all, it has been one of the most popular companies for over 30 years. But what are some factors making its business performance so exceptional? We will look into what they are today. Let us begin with the fundamentals of Yahoo!
The company was founded in California by Charles Page and Jerry Yang in 1974. In July 1998, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and David Filo joined the company as executive officers. In 1999, Yahoo was listed on NASDAQ and became an independent company. According to industry analysts, this move enabled them to benefit from a strong liquidity position, which helped ease their debt and avoid additional shareholder dilution that could lead to eventual bankruptcy.
In 2003, Yahoo launched search engine Bing and acquired DoubleClick. This acquisition was also successful because Bing, which became widely used, grew faster than Yahoo could have imagined. It took nearly two decades before Google was able to replicate the same success as Yahoo did. However, according to experts, it was the right time when Yahoo needed to make the switch. All these years ago, they had already started to focus more on mobile Internet technologies, especially social media applications.
It has taken many years of research before Yahoo finally succeeded against other online sites like AOL and MSN, who were offering similar products.
Yahoo was also known for being very active in providing customers with customized news offerings, which made them stand out among others. They began by providing the first digital photo album of a high-quality format called Flickr. Even though the popularity of Flickr diminished after it was bought out by Facebook, the site still continues to be popular as long as people do not forget how easy it is to upload photos and share them with friends and family using only a smartphone device. Many users can share photos for free as long as they are not on any network that does not allow it. There is no limitation on who can view and download such files. That makes it easier for everyone to manage their images and keep track of their families. It may seem strange, but having your own personal computer or Mac is enough to download thousands of different pictures every minute. You just need to click one button to download everything you want at once without even leaving your home or office. It may sound weird but the technology behind this feature makes it possible to access millions of various photos and videos easily every day. Because of this, Yahoo has been the go-to platform where photographers around the globe have posted pictures of the places and people they see and share them. And if there are too many photographs available, it becomes hard for users to find them quickly. Now, they can share their content with their friends and family and enjoy sharing interesting things, ideas, opinions, etc. The number of comments received, also, increases when you upload your photos on the site as well.
Yahoo used to work hard in order to create new features like Instant Articles, which allowed readers to interact while reading articles by commenting, linking, replying, rating, liking, retweeting, subscribing, and watching. With each passing week, they worked hard to improve this feature by adding new features and improving existing ones. And as stated earlier, Yahoo now allows users to post links to web pages as articles. If users can add them, then they can be updated with more information about the article, its author, and its publication date. Users can comment on posts, which helps boost engagement and increase user retention by getting valuable feedback, which is also known as Social Bookmarking and Sharing. These features can be accessed by simply clicking on the website, or it can be done through mobile apps. By clicking on an image, you can get more information and learn more about the person it represents. Through this, one can discover his or her interests, likes, dislikes. One way through which they do this is via “MySpace integration”, although it is not common today, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Instagram have started doing likewise. Another way of integrating MySpace or Friendster is through “like tagging others”. When you post something interesting to someone through those platforms, it automatically gets marked as shared. For example, if I say “Hey! Someone liked my picture today” and he/she likes mine too, then that adds up to a total of seven likes. Although sometimes it happens accidentally, but there is nothing wrong with posting a message that appears on Friends or other social networks. Such messages tend to be quite private and rarely show everything about ourselves, including our likes, beliefs, or thoughts. Instead, they try to help you learn a little bit more about your friend. These kinds of interactions between people that exist on social media have become quite widespread. It is important to note, however, that not everyone is happy when his/her favorite person sees a photograph of him/her on his / hers Facebook page, or sends me a video on Twitter or Instagram with a link to a story. Some users feel uncomfortable when their photos go viral on the internet, and so many followers start wondering if everything is okay or not. So there is always a risk of losing trust in another person. Still, it is said that it is better to communicate directly with them instead of sending the message privately through email, by phone call, fax, Skype, etc., which means that Yahoo needs to develop stronger relationships with other social networking platforms in order to gain subscribers’ attention. But they have managed to make these social platforms grow like never before in terms of revenue generation, audience growth, and increasing market share. Their investments in advertising, along with efforts directed towards creating engaging news content and building brand equity have resulted in improved marketing effectiveness and significant enhancements in the quality and quantity of revenues for the past few years.
So, back to Yahoo! Today’s story, what makes the difference between its current and future success? First of all, it would be advisable for Yahoo executives to recognize the significance of mobile Internet usage today. Without recognizing this fact, it is unlikely that they will ever surpass Google in terms of global traffic, revenue, market power, or profits. Second, Yahoo must come up with more features like instant articles, which encourages readers to interact, share information, and provide reviews. Third, Yahoo should leverage its vast resources to build partnerships with big players and local influencers in various markets to enhance its presence in foreign countries. These collaborations will ensure that Yahoo remains more competitive compared to Google. Lastly, Yahoo needs to invest significantly in both paid and earned promotions in order to compete with Amazon, Walmart, Costco or Samsung, a giant player in online retail. As mentioned above, several users of the company also complain about privacy and security issues when visiting websites through smartphones, which make use of cookies and fingerprint scanners to identify users. To overcome these challenges, it is necessary to integrate biometric authentication on websites. Once this solution is built, it will prevent unauthorized persons from accessing your account and steal your data. In addition, you don’t have to worry about hackers stealing private information from you anymore. Not only do you receive access to all of your accounts, but you also can’t lose your identity at any moment. Yahoo has successfully managed to integrate secure Wi-Fi passwords and payment gateway protection systems to protect their users and prevent intruders who might try to hack into their accounts. And here’s the good part, they also utilize encryption technology with HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) URLs as the default setting. In 2013, Verizon released the Android operating system with support for SSL for protecting personal information. In 2014, it was announced that Gmail, Outlook Express, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Yahoo Messenger, and Thunderbird got the added support, although their implementation has been delayed due to security reasons. Just recently, Facebook has opened up its servers to third parties who wish to integrate HTTPS URLs and encrypt emails from Yahoo using RSA (Ransomware attack prevention).
Yahoo, as expected, was rated best place to make money on Wall Street (from 1227) in 2016, based on a series of surveys conducted by investment firms across North America. A report published by Forbes shows that Yahoo ranked 4th overall in terms of profitability. Moreover, Yahoo is considered to be the most reliable financial website because it employs rigorous procedures when conducting transactions, such as collecting valid signatures from users, verifying financial information, recording customer transactions, maintaining accounting records, and filing tax returns. Moreover, Yahoo provides 24/7 customer service, which is always ready to take care of consumers around the clock. Thus, it has kept its loyal customers and engaged employees alike since their inception.
So, the conclusion to reach here is the notion that Yahoo has definitely reached top spot due to continuous innovation, development, and updating of processes. Its clients and partners also appreciate this approach since Yahoo has proven time and again that it gives customers value and maintains professionalism, confidentiality, integrity, and ethics. Whether it is a client looking for solutions to troubleshoot, answer their questions, or assist them during their job hunt, Yahoo is the place to turn for help. On the contrary, those who are reluctant to contact a firm with an offer have found another way to connect with individuals who share a similar passion. The main reason for this is availability and convenience that Google has provided. For instance, if you have a problem with any gadget or software and are unable to fix it on your own, you can head over to Google and ask for assistance. Furthermore, the company is always trying to meet the demands of its stakeholders — including investors, marketers, advertisers, bloggers, journalists, and artists. For instance, when celebrities visit the company and buy advertisements, it creates buzz. Additionally, Yahoo regularly updates its product portfolio to match changes in consumer behaviors and trends. Hence, it is a safe bet to consider