Ed Zitron

When he joined the company, when Prabhakar Raghavan took over Yahoo Search, they held a 30.4% market share, not far from Google's own 36.9%, and miles ahead of the 15.7% that Microsoft's MSN Search had. By May 2012, Yahoo was down to just 13.4% and had shrunk for the previous nine consecutive months, and was being beaten by even the newly released Bing.

When he joined the company, when Prabhakar Raghavan took over Yahoo Search, they held a 30.4% market share, not far from Google's own 36.9%, and miles ahead of the 15.7% that Microsoft's MSN Search had. By May 2012, Yahoo was down to just 13.4% and had shrunk for the previous nine consecutive months, and was being beaten by even the newly released Bing.

That same year, Yahoo had the largest layoffs in its corporate history, shedding 2,000 employees, or 14% of its overall workforce. The man who deposed Ben Gomes, someone who worked on Google Search from its very beginnings, was so shit at his job that in 2009, Yahoo effectively threw in the towel on its own search tech, instead choosing to license Bing's engine in a 10-year deal.

That same year, Yahoo had the largest layoffs in its corporate history, shedding 2,000 employees, or 14% of its overall workforce. The man who deposed Ben Gomes, someone who worked on Google Search from its very beginnings, was so shit at his job that in 2009, Yahoo effectively threw in the towel on its own search tech, instead choosing to license Bing's engine in a 10-year deal.

That same year, Yahoo had the largest layoffs in its corporate history, shedding 2,000 employees, or 14% of its overall workforce. The man who deposed Ben Gomes, someone who worked on Google Search from its very beginnings, was so shit at his job that in 2009, Yahoo effectively threw in the towel on its own search tech, instead choosing to license Bing's engine in a 10-year deal.

If we take a long view of things, this likely precipitated the overall decline of the company, which went from being worth $125 billion at the peak of the dot-com boom to being sold to Verizon for $4.8 billion in 2017, which is roughly a 3,000-square-foot apartment in San Francisco.

If we take a long view of things, this likely precipitated the overall decline of the company, which went from being worth $125 billion at the peak of the dot-com boom to being sold to Verizon for $4.8 billion in 2017, which is roughly a 3,000-square-foot apartment in San Francisco.

If we take a long view of things, this likely precipitated the overall decline of the company, which went from being worth $125 billion at the peak of the dot-com boom to being sold to Verizon for $4.8 billion in 2017, which is roughly a 3,000-square-foot apartment in San Francisco.

With search no longer a priority and making less money for the company, Yahoo decided to pivot into Web 2.0 and original content, making some bets that paid off, but far, far too many that did not. It spent $1.1 billion on Tumblr in 2013, only for Verizon to sell it for just $3 million in 2019.

With search no longer a priority and making less money for the company, Yahoo decided to pivot into Web 2.0 and original content, making some bets that paid off, but far, far too many that did not. It spent $1.1 billion on Tumblr in 2013, only for Verizon to sell it for just $3 million in 2019.

With search no longer a priority and making less money for the company, Yahoo decided to pivot into Web 2.0 and original content, making some bets that paid off, but far, far too many that did not. It spent $1.1 billion on Tumblr in 2013, only for Verizon to sell it for just $3 million in 2019.

It bought Zimbra in 2007 ostensibly to complete with the new Google Apps productivity suite, only to sell it for a reported fraction of the original purchase price to VMware a few years later. That's not his fault. But nevertheless, Yahoo was a company without a mission, a purpose, or an objective. Nobody, and I'll speculate, even those leading the company, really knew what it was or what it did.

It bought Zimbra in 2007 ostensibly to complete with the new Google Apps productivity suite, only to sell it for a reported fraction of the original purchase price to VMware a few years later. That's not his fault. But nevertheless, Yahoo was a company without a mission, a purpose, or an objective. Nobody, and I'll speculate, even those leading the company, really knew what it was or what it did.

It bought Zimbra in 2007 ostensibly to complete with the new Google Apps productivity suite, only to sell it for a reported fraction of the original purchase price to VMware a few years later. That's not his fault. But nevertheless, Yahoo was a company without a mission, a purpose, or an objective. Nobody, and I'll speculate, even those leading the company, really knew what it was or what it did.

Anyway, just a big shout out right now to Kara Swisher, who referred to Prabhakar as well-respected when he moved from Yahoo to Google. You absolutely nailed it, Kara. Bang up job.

Anyway, just a big shout out right now to Kara Swisher, who referred to Prabhakar as well-respected when he moved from Yahoo to Google. You absolutely nailed it, Kara. Bang up job.

Anyway, just a big shout out right now to Kara Swisher, who referred to Prabhakar as well-respected when he moved from Yahoo to Google. You absolutely nailed it, Kara. Bang up job.

In an interview with ZDNet's Dan Farber from 2005, Raghavan spoke of his intent to align the commercial incentives of a billion content providers with social good intent while at Yahoo, and his eagerness to inspire the audience to give more data. What? Anyway, before that, it's actually hard to find out exactly what Raghavan did.

In an interview with ZDNet's Dan Farber from 2005, Raghavan spoke of his intent to align the commercial incentives of a billion content providers with social good intent while at Yahoo, and his eagerness to inspire the audience to give more data. What? Anyway, before that, it's actually hard to find out exactly what Raghavan did.

In an interview with ZDNet's Dan Farber from 2005, Raghavan spoke of his intent to align the commercial incentives of a billion content providers with social good intent while at Yahoo, and his eagerness to inspire the audience to give more data. What? Anyway, before that, it's actually hard to find out exactly what Raghavan did.