1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camray. 2 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:08,880 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello, everybody, 4 00:00:17,600 --> 00:00:20,040 Speaker 1: welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette and 5 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:22,160 Speaker 1: I am an editor at how stuff works dot com. 6 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: Sitting across from me, as usual, is senior writer and 7 00:00:26,200 --> 00:00:33,760 Speaker 1: Yahoo Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, so funny story. Yeah, we 8 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:37,040 Speaker 1: recorded an episode it's actually a week after we recorded 9 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: it about Yahoo. Yes, and it was an epic episode, 10 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,000 Speaker 1: the longest we had ever recorded up to that point, 11 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: which is saying something because I think our longest one 12 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: before that was an hour and seven minutes long. Yeah, 13 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: So we decided maybe we shouldn't inflict a gigantic episode 14 00:00:54,480 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: on everyone, you know. We thought that maybe we should 15 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: spare people and split that into two episodes and make 16 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:01,959 Speaker 1: it a little easier to digest. So we have done that. 17 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: And uh, in our previous episode, if you if you're 18 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: just joining us for the very first time, the episode 19 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: immediately preceding this one, we've talked about the founding of Yahoo, 20 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:16,760 Speaker 1: how it started as a company, very much like a 21 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: couple of other notable companies, in the search engine world, 22 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:27,119 Speaker 1: and how it went from a tiny to man operation 23 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: to quickly escalate into a force to be reckoned with 24 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: on the web, especially in the advertising world, which is 25 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:39,119 Speaker 1: exactly where we were as we were letting off at 26 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: the very end of that episode, and we're gonna pick 27 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: up in two thousand three and Yahoo's pioneering work in 28 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: online advertising. So in two thousand three, Yahoo begins to 29 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: work at proving that the online advertising model does in 30 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:58,240 Speaker 1: fact work and actually shows that there are real world 31 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: effects from online advertising. And they also launched some new 32 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: products like Yahoo Maps launch it launched in that year, 33 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 1: as well as some chat rooms. And that's when Yaho 34 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: began to go beyond curating content and went to content generation. 35 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: They began to hire bloggers and journalists to write content 36 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: exclusively for Yahoo. So Yahoo again continuing to be a 37 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:27,239 Speaker 1: portal to the web, but now not just finding cool 38 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: information out there and cool stories to share, but generating them. Yeah. 39 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,920 Speaker 1: At the time too, they also started reaching out to 40 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: the uh meat space, if you will, in addition to 41 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: cyberspace for advertising purposes too, because they started working with 42 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: the um major advertising companies that weren't advertising online, so 43 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,079 Speaker 1: they were you know, basically sort of doing partnerships with 44 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 1: with people in the real world, so not just online. Um. 45 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: And then you know who has always been, as we 46 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: said earlier, at the forefront of advertising online and they 47 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:11,119 Speaker 1: started in two thousand four to look at behavioral targeting. Yes, 48 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:13,919 Speaker 1: so basically this is when we start talking about things 49 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,799 Speaker 1: like cookies that track what you do. Well, hey, he 50 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:22,959 Speaker 1: went to a website from a car manufacturer. Maybe he's 51 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,800 Speaker 1: shopping for a car car ad, Let's deliver an AD 52 00:03:26,800 --> 00:03:29,679 Speaker 1: that's for a car. Yeah. This is a the very 53 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,640 Speaker 1: early days of targeted advertising, which has become something of 54 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: a science today, but at the at that moment, was 55 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:39,520 Speaker 1: really a new idea. And again yeah, who was a 56 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: pioneer in this space, you know, just as they were 57 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: with web advertising in general, and um, it was you know, 58 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: it was a powerful tool, you know, saying that, well, 59 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: not only can we deliver your ad to X number 60 00:03:55,120 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: of people, but we can deliver it to x number 61 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: of people who are specifically interested in what you have 62 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: to offer, Like these are people who are actively shopping 63 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: for a product that you happen to make. So if 64 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: you want them to go to your site, why don't 65 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: you advertise with us. Yeah. I got even creepier a 66 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: couple of years later too, and they started getting into 67 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: the the the location base exactly, and that was when 68 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: we all started going, wait, how did you know? I'm 69 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: in Dallas? So now it's now now it's not just 70 00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: what I do, but where I live. So now you 71 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: can actually advertise a local business as opposed to just 72 00:04:30,400 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: some national chain that happens to offer whatever it is 73 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 1: I'm looking for. And that doesn't sound like much to 74 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: you the end user, or maybe not as much because 75 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 1: you're going, oh, hey, that's kind of cool. They advertised 76 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: for the business just down the street, but for the 77 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:48,880 Speaker 1: business just down the street, especially small businesses, um the 78 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: money and and advertising small businesses to local people um 79 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: rivals that of sending ads out nationwide. In fact, probably 80 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 1: just I don't know the numbers, but I would guess 81 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: that it may even dwarf that amount because you have 82 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: people willing to spend locally and if they can reach 83 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 1: their local customers online, that's really cool, and people are 84 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: willing to pay for that. Yep. And in two thousand four, 85 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: that's when they created some you know that they had 86 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:20,560 Speaker 1: hired the bloggers and journalists. Well, in two thousand and four, 87 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:25,600 Speaker 1: they started launching news and sports and entertainment UH sections 88 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,480 Speaker 1: on their page where that had stories written by these 89 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: bloggers and journalists. It's also when their deal with Google 90 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:34,960 Speaker 1: was up in two thousand four that that four year 91 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:38,919 Speaker 1: deal was had expired and instead of renewing the license, 92 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: Yahoo chose to employ a company called ink Tony to 93 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: create a new search algorithm. So they had been behind 94 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 1: one of the other UH major search engines online, but 95 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:56,159 Speaker 1: it you know, hadn't been as successful as say Google. Yeah, 96 00:05:56,320 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: so Yahoo decides to cut ties with Google get tell 97 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:04,920 Speaker 1: Me to to provide the the horsepower for their search algorithm. 98 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: And they also hired ABC executive named Lloyd Brown or 99 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: Lloyd Braun if you prefer to uh to head the 100 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:17,680 Speaker 1: media operations arm of Yahoo because at this point they're 101 00:06:17,680 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: still looking at getting into producing media outside the web, 102 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 1: like they were looking at potentially doing you know, media 103 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: production in the form of movies or perhaps television. Because again, 104 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:33,520 Speaker 1: you know, they're their CEO came from that world. He 105 00:06:33,680 --> 00:06:37,640 Speaker 1: was a Hollywood executive, and there didn't seem to be 106 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: any reason why they couldn't get into that. But that 107 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: particular arm of Yahoo's business. Let's say it failed to 108 00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 1: get traction. You could also say it flopped miserably but 109 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: failed to get traction. Is is probably the nicer way 110 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: of saying it. One of the nice things about being 111 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:56,920 Speaker 1: accompany the size of Yahoo back at that time was 112 00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,719 Speaker 1: that you had lots of people and lots of money 113 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: and you try. Yes, you had the you had the 114 00:07:02,200 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: luxury of failure. You could you could afford to fail 115 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:08,280 Speaker 1: at something, but you know, you know, you could take 116 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: big chances and if they paid off, that's awesome, and 117 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: if they didn't, you could absorb it um to a point. 118 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:20,480 Speaker 1: So in two thousand five, that's when the first major scandal, 119 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 1: UH that involved Yah whose presence in China starts to unravel. 120 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: And this would actually take place over the next few years. 121 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 1: And the story is pretty grim. Um. The story is that, Okay, 122 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: so the government in China is let's say it can 123 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:45,360 Speaker 1: be a little invasive, okay, and that the government of 124 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: China wanted to be able to monitor what citizens were 125 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: using the internet to to do, like what they were 126 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: what they were accessing online. And yeah, who had a 127 00:07:59,360 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: presence in China, know, So the government said, we want 128 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: to be able to access your information to find out 129 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,360 Speaker 1: what people in China are searching for and what they're 130 00:08:08,360 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: looking at on Yahoo. And Yahoo apparently complied with that request, 131 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: which would lead organizations like the World Organization for Human 132 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 1: Rights to protest and ultimately sue Yahoo, stating that essentially 133 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,000 Speaker 1: what Yahoo had managed to do was be complicit in 134 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:36,120 Speaker 1: human rights violations of Chinese citizens by giving the Chinese 135 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:42,600 Speaker 1: government private information. Yahoo's response was that it was a 136 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,120 Speaker 1: global company and that it would have to comply with 137 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:51,160 Speaker 1: whatever local laws were in place in whichever regions Yahoo operated. 138 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: So it's a it's a complicated issue. On the one hand, 139 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:58,040 Speaker 1: you've got a company that's trying to do business in 140 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 1: another country, and in to do business, it has to 141 00:09:01,679 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: follow the laws of that country. On the other hand, 142 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:09,480 Speaker 1: you have human rights issues, which many people would argue 143 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: transcend the law. And what do you do when you 144 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: are a business? Yeah, yeah, and it's uh, you know, 145 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: it was done in the in the name of doing 146 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: business in China, and which is an enormous market, and 147 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: it's it's impossible to ignore because there's so many people 148 00:09:27,040 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: who live there m and they're also enormous competitors there 149 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: as well. Um Ali Baba for one, which has a 150 00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: relationship with Yahoo. Um, so yeah, I mean Google. I 151 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 1: mean well, I mean Google too, as I also had 152 00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,720 Speaker 1: conflicts with the Chinese government and publicized ways and and 153 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: that the two companies have had to endure. Um, questions 154 00:09:56,360 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: from shareholders and questions from the public. A lot of scrutiny. 155 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:01,720 Speaker 1: You've got. On the one Hey, you've got the business 156 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: side where people are saying, hey, I'm investing in you, 157 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:07,040 Speaker 1: and I want to return on my investment. On the 158 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:09,840 Speaker 1: other side, you've got people saying, hey, do the right thing, 159 00:10:10,360 --> 00:10:14,360 Speaker 1: don't don't perform actions that are going to lead to suffering. 160 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: And uh and Google and Yah who had two different 161 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: approaches to this this problem. Not not that either of 162 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 1: them were necessarily uh perfectly ethical or unethical. You know, 163 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: they were different approaches, and there was there's a spectrum there. 164 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: And and frankly, I can tell you I would hate 165 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 1: to be an executive having to make these decisions because 166 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: you know, you have responsibilities as a human being and 167 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,439 Speaker 1: you have responsibilities as a business owner. And sometimes those 168 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:49,079 Speaker 1: responsibilities don't overlap in a nice vind diagram. That's that's true. Um. 169 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,679 Speaker 1: And one of the arguments I've heard for doing business 170 00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: in China for these companies is that, um, it does 171 00:10:56,600 --> 00:11:00,400 Speaker 1: open people's world up to a lot of information that 172 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: they may not have had otherwise, can stretch people's minds 173 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,120 Speaker 1: and maybe make them more open. If the problem is 174 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: that access to that information also leads to their imprisonment 175 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:16,000 Speaker 1: or otherwise harassment from the Chinese government, then there's uh 176 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:18,920 Speaker 1: that issue as well. Yeah. Now, frankly, if I have 177 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:21,640 Speaker 1: to come down on a side, I would say that 178 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: I don't like what Yah who did. I mean, I personally, 179 00:11:26,480 --> 00:11:30,480 Speaker 1: as a just my own personal opinion, I value human 180 00:11:30,559 --> 00:11:33,520 Speaker 1: rights over that. But I was not in that position, 181 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:37,120 Speaker 1: and I cannot honestly say how I would have acted 182 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 1: had I been in that position. And thank I'm thankful 183 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: I've never been in that position because I can't imagine 184 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,120 Speaker 1: what that stress would be like. Also, in that year 185 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: less controversial, Yeah who bought a photo sharing site called Flicker. 186 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:55,719 Speaker 1: Hm hmm, I seem to remember them. That's one of 187 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: the one of the stories where Yahoo actually I think 188 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: I saw a more success than Schmoogle did. No Google 189 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: had had photos Google and Picasa just doesn't have have 190 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:14,160 Speaker 1: the same same presence as Flicker. Now Granted today even 191 00:12:14,200 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: Flicker isn't necessarily as big a name when you have 192 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 1: photos sharing services out there like Instagram or even stuff 193 00:12:21,679 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 1: like Facebook or Google Plus, which Google Plus is built 194 00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:29,760 Speaker 1: on top of other services like Picasa. But that's you know, 195 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: it's an evolution. Uh So, Yeah, that was That was 196 00:12:32,679 --> 00:12:35,840 Speaker 1: two thousand fives, big year for y'all. Who tough year 197 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:39,440 Speaker 1: with the whole China story starting to unravel. Now, granted 198 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:41,080 Speaker 1: that would continue, like I said, for a couple of 199 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: years with the lawsuit really coming to a head in 200 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:48,760 Speaker 1: two thousand seven. Um in two thousan two thousand six, 201 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 1: Yahoo and uh and Schmoogle got into a little big war. Yeah, 202 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: that's that's true. And and this is I don't know 203 00:12:57,920 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: why I keep saying Smoogle other than that I just 204 00:12:59,840 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: like saying it. Okay, but Google obviously, if you think back, 205 00:13:03,760 --> 00:13:05,959 Speaker 1: I mean, this is six years ago now. As as 206 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,040 Speaker 1: of the time we're recording this, Yahoo was still very 207 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: much an Internet giant. They were still one of the 208 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: big big players, and then they kind of still are now. 209 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: But I don't think people think of them that way 210 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: like they did in two thousand six. To get a 211 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:24,439 Speaker 1: lot of visitors, but man, the drama behind the website 212 00:13:24,559 --> 00:13:29,000 Speaker 1: has has sort of eclipsed the site itself, and I 213 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: think I would argue that the stuff, some of the 214 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,920 Speaker 1: things that happened in two thousand six are especially painful 215 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: in the light of what's happened to all of the 216 00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:40,320 Speaker 1: players since then. So yes, uh, Yahoo and Schmoogle go 217 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:44,800 Speaker 1: to war over a video sharing website, yes, uh you 218 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: may have heard of it, a fairly young one at 219 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: the time, Yes, YouTube. Yeah. So Yahoo was a potential 220 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: owner of YouTube. They they tried to purchase the company, 221 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: and Google ended up outbidding them essentially yea. And so 222 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:02,520 Speaker 1: you think of how different the world would be if 223 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: that had happened. Well, um, you know it a way 224 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: you think about it, you sort of take take the 225 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: your current feelings about all the companies out. It's sort 226 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:17,480 Speaker 1: of fit more with Yahoo's uh package of services more 227 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 1: so than Google, yah, because who was already in the 228 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:24,560 Speaker 1: They were the content people, yeah, content curation and creation um, 229 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: and Google was more I mean they hadn't released a 230 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:29,880 Speaker 1: lot of their other products, so they were still very 231 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: search engine. They were all web advertising and search engine 232 00:14:33,560 --> 00:14:36,040 Speaker 1: that was their business. But you know, the world was 233 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,000 Speaker 1: turning social that's that's why you had sites like Flicker 234 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 1: and and YouTube, and there were all these new social 235 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: websites like this, this other company that that. Yeah, who 236 00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: tried to purchase You may have heard of it. It 237 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,360 Speaker 1: sort of decided to go it alone, but at the 238 00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: time they looked like they might be a takeover time. 239 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 1: Um no, but it does start with an oh uh flick. No, 240 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: they bought Flicker Facebook, that's the one. Wow. Yeah. And 241 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 1: then it's one of those things where I went back 242 00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: over it and I remembered that this had happened and went, Wow, 243 00:15:12,920 --> 00:15:17,480 Speaker 1: what if that had happened that two thousand six big year. Yeah, 244 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:20,480 Speaker 1: I remembered that happening. I didn't have the year for it. 245 00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: So ye, getting the traffic that they might have gotten 246 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: from Facebook and or YouTube would have well, yeah, because 247 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: their their market share for search at that point had 248 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: hit a pretty low point. They had fallen to the 249 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: market and Google was at so you know, this is 250 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 1: just six years after Google had come to Yahoo asking 251 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: for money, and now they were, you know, really just 252 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: thrashing them in the in the search engine space. And 253 00:15:48,640 --> 00:15:51,840 Speaker 1: at that point Semuel decided to kind of clean house 254 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:57,440 Speaker 1: and he sort of he re organized a lot of 255 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:01,120 Speaker 1: the top level executives at Yahoo, which UH was sort 256 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: of a stop gap measure. As it turns out, one 257 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: of those people who left was Lloyd Brown, the guy 258 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: who was in charge of that media group. He left 259 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: in in two thousand and six, so you know ultimately 260 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: that that media operations UH initiative never went anywhere. It 261 00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: was only two years running before he had left. UM. 262 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: But that leads us into two thousand seven, which is 263 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: when the CEO resigns, and that was partly due to 264 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:35,480 Speaker 1: pressure being put on him by shareholders who were not 265 00:16:35,640 --> 00:16:39,880 Speaker 1: happy with how much he was making versus how slowly 266 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: the company was growing. And UM, actually we should point 267 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,760 Speaker 1: that out. He was his salary was not that big. 268 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: Um it was a dollar a year. Now when he 269 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: at its height, he was making six hundreds thousand dollars 270 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 1: a year on his salary, but by the time of 271 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 1: two thousand seven, it was officially one dollar per year. Now, 272 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: granted he had a had a few stock options, yeah, 273 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,920 Speaker 1: like seventy million dollars worth. UM, So don't feel too 274 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,320 Speaker 1: sorry for Yeah, it's not like he wasn't being compensated. 275 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 1: It's just that his official salary was just a dollar, 276 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:18,360 Speaker 1: so he steps down, and Young ends up. Jerry Young 277 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,879 Speaker 1: steps in and becomes the CEO, and UM and they 278 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: hire Susan Decker to become the president of Yahoo. And UH. Also, 279 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:30,960 Speaker 1: Yahoo entered a bidding war with Google this you know, 280 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:34,400 Speaker 1: this happens every couple of years, apparently, UH this time 281 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 1: to purchase an ad firm called Double Click, which you 282 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: will probably recognize as one of the biggest advertising firms online. 283 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:45,639 Speaker 1: All right, so now you get the guests. Who wins 284 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: the bidding war And here's a hint, it wasn't Yahoo. 285 00:17:49,080 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: So once again, at this point, Yahoo's playing the part 286 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: of Indiana Jones and Google is playing the part of 287 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 1: Bellach who every time Indiana Jones gets something in his grasp, 288 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: Belloc swoops in and steals it. There's nothing you can 289 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:10,239 Speaker 1: possess that I cannot take away. He's left except that 290 00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:13,919 Speaker 1: Bellock actually, you know, does much better in this than 291 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: in this, in this scenario than he did and raised 292 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:18,200 Speaker 1: the lust art. As far as I know, he doesn't 293 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:23,200 Speaker 1: melt in this scenario. Google seems to be pretty solid still, yep, yep. Well, 294 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: people thought Yahoo was starting to fail and not be 295 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:32,000 Speaker 1: so not not be so solid itself, having a CEO, 296 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:38,119 Speaker 1: having a CEO resign because of shareholder pressure, and then 297 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:41,560 Speaker 1: be replaced by someone who is not a business guy. 298 00:18:42,119 --> 00:18:46,240 Speaker 1: You know. Young wasn't Again, he was not known as 299 00:18:46,280 --> 00:18:51,560 Speaker 1: a business leader. He was known as a techno technology expert. 300 00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:56,040 Speaker 1: So there was a confidence in Yeah, who was beginning 301 00:18:56,040 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: to wane, well, not beginning, it was continuing to wane, 302 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:03,400 Speaker 1: probably in an accelerated rate. Yeah, and so somebody decided 303 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:06,160 Speaker 1: now might be a really good time to UH make 304 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:09,400 Speaker 1: an offer. Now granted a company behind the scenes, there 305 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:13,359 Speaker 1: had been offers made already between this company and Yahoo, 306 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:16,120 Speaker 1: but in uh in two thousand and eight, that's when 307 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: I publicized a well publicized offer was extended to Yahoo 308 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:27,880 Speaker 1: but ultimately not accepted. And that offer came from Microsoft. Yes, 309 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 1: Microsoft got down on one knee in front of everybody 310 00:19:31,080 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: at a sport sporting match and got on the big 311 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: JumboTron and said, will you accept my bid? This is 312 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,440 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, we're talking Steve Bomber Bomber strode 313 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: in and eight three Yahoo employees and then said I 314 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: will give you forty five million dollars for this joint 315 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 1: that's billion with a B. Yeah, it was a billion billion, 316 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:55,879 Speaker 1: but Yahoo said, no, yeah, that was that was you 317 00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:01,320 Speaker 1: undervalue us. Go back and try again. I don't Yeah, 318 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: it was that's wait, no, we'd like to partner with 319 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: you for search, because Microsoft was coming up with the 320 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:10,879 Speaker 1: new type of search to replace their old type of search. 321 00:20:11,800 --> 00:20:16,160 Speaker 1: Except you know, I think at first it wasn't being right, 322 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: but it became being It wasn't long after that. And 323 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:21,760 Speaker 1: I imagine I think live search originally right, originally, yeah, 324 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:23,879 Speaker 1: but I think I think, uh, well, put it this way. 325 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,199 Speaker 1: If you're in on those talks, they say, hey, you 326 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,760 Speaker 1: know we got this bing thing coming up. Yeah. Well 327 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:33,120 Speaker 1: in two thousand nine, uh yeah, so so yeah, they enter, 328 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:36,199 Speaker 1: they enter into a business relationship in the sense that 329 00:20:36,359 --> 00:20:39,520 Speaker 1: Microsoft ends up partnering with Yahoo. Yeah, a long term 330 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:45,159 Speaker 1: business partnership, right, um, which we'll get into that. Uh. 331 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:49,480 Speaker 1: But in two thousand nine, another another tough year. Uh yeah, 332 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 1: who ends up shutting down geo cities. Yeah, so geo 333 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:57,120 Speaker 1: cities no longer a thing, millions of people lose their 334 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: animated gifts and and yeah looping minis Oh man, I 335 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: do not miss those days. Um and Young steps down 336 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: as CEO because again, shareholder pressure was growing. I mean, 337 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:17,280 Speaker 1: he I remember those days too. There was a lot 338 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:21,239 Speaker 1: of criticism directed at Yahoo, and some of it was 339 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: directed at not giving young a chance. But I mean, 340 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: there's there are a lot there was a lot of 341 00:21:28,880 --> 00:21:32,040 Speaker 1: stress on both sides. And so, yeah, who ends up 342 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:38,040 Speaker 1: hiring Carol Bart's former head of former head of Autodesk. 343 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 1: She did very well over there. She was known as 344 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:47,359 Speaker 1: a sort of a you know, a very ambitious, no nonsense, 345 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: very savvy businesswoman, and that she might be the leader 346 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:55,920 Speaker 1: that they need. And she was willing to make some 347 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: pretty big changes, some pretty drastic changes, uh the name 348 00:22:00,640 --> 00:22:03,600 Speaker 1: of saving the company. And not all of the decisions 349 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:08,160 Speaker 1: were popular ones which would end up becoming coming back 350 00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,320 Speaker 1: to haunt her later. And you can argue whether or 351 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:15,800 Speaker 1: not her decisions were good ones or not, but they 352 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:23,359 Speaker 1: certainly weren't popular among the board. Um. And and also 353 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: I think there was there's an argument to be made 354 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:31,040 Speaker 1: of short term versus long term results, and that a 355 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,720 Speaker 1: lot of the changes she was making were changes that 356 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: if they were successful, we're going to take some time 357 00:22:37,840 --> 00:22:42,760 Speaker 1: to pay off. And there's a problem in the world 358 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:48,120 Speaker 1: of business that if you don't get short term returns quickly, 359 00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:55,320 Speaker 1: you run the risk of alienating your supporters and foreshadow. Yeah. 360 00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: So in two thousand and ten, the company, a lot 361 00:22:58,000 --> 00:22:59,760 Speaker 1: of people would say that, yeah, who was in decline. 362 00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:02,560 Speaker 1: It is raking in a billion dollars of revenue a year, 363 00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,120 Speaker 1: and somehow that's still in decline. I mean it's not 364 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: it's not growing assass as it needs to essentially, it's 365 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: what that boils down to. Yeah, but they still had 366 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,959 Speaker 1: hundreds of millions of visitors. There's still one of the 367 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:17,480 Speaker 1: top visited websites on the entire web, which is even 368 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: now you know, you think about that like it's it's 369 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,639 Speaker 1: gendering revenue, it's getting lots of eyeballs on the site, 370 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,919 Speaker 1: and yet it's still being considered a failure, which is 371 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:28,480 Speaker 1: you know, if you're comparing it with itself, right, it's 372 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:30,240 Speaker 1: more to do with the Yeah, it's more to do 373 00:23:30,280 --> 00:23:32,080 Speaker 1: with what's going on behind the scenes that any of 374 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:35,480 Speaker 1: its actual performance in the market. Although you could still say, well, yeah, 375 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: but look it's it's search shares dismal compared to Google. Well, people, 376 00:23:40,960 --> 00:23:43,760 Speaker 1: I think the thing is too for for public companies. 377 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:48,640 Speaker 1: People have a certain expectation to shareholders say Okay, you've 378 00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,879 Speaker 1: made million dollars a year for the last ten years. 379 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: When are you getting into six hundred million? You know 380 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,159 Speaker 1: that it staying the same is not good enough. That 381 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:02,080 Speaker 1: people expect innovation, new to rules, new services, new growth, 382 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:06,919 Speaker 1: and even when you're doing great, you know, hey by 383 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: by a lot of companies, UH standards, that would have 384 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:15,159 Speaker 1: been plenty of money. But for for Yahoo, people expected 385 00:24:15,160 --> 00:24:19,080 Speaker 1: it to continue to grow, and so that was the problem. 386 00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 1: Two thousand eleven, things come to a head and the 387 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,679 Speaker 1: board of directors decides to fire Carol Barts. So she 388 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,160 Speaker 1: had some choice words for them. Yeah, some some ones 389 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:31,359 Speaker 1: that we can't repeat on this podcast. This is a 390 00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:37,600 Speaker 1: family friendly show. Um, Carol Bart's outspoken woman, very very blunt, 391 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: and she was She was actually quite blunt about the 392 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:45,199 Speaker 1: what happened with her being fired. She said it was 393 00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:47,880 Speaker 1: she was fired over the phone, as I recall, right, 394 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: I think it wasn't even in an in an in 395 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,919 Speaker 1: person meeting, and that she was very critical of the 396 00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: board of directors for Yahoo and was Um, she definitely 397 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: had some choice words to say, most of them not 398 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:08,040 Speaker 1: repeatable on this podcast about her experience and uh, the 399 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,600 Speaker 1: critical problems as far as the board was concerned. Include 400 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:14,720 Speaker 1: the fact that the sales growth had stagnated, that add 401 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:19,120 Speaker 1: sales growth was not not growing at the rate they wanted, 402 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,440 Speaker 1: and they felt that the deal that they had struck 403 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:27,080 Speaker 1: with Microsoft wasn't helping enough. That this this deal that 404 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:30,160 Speaker 1: was supposed to be a big benefit to both companies 405 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:33,359 Speaker 1: did not seem to be helping Yahoo the way it 406 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,640 Speaker 1: was supposed to, and so therefore it was a bad 407 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:43,679 Speaker 1: business decision. Um bad business. So Barnes leaves and Tim Morse, 408 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: who was the chief financial officer at the time, he 409 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,040 Speaker 1: steps in to serve as the interim CEO until they 410 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:55,120 Speaker 1: can find a permanent replacement. Permanent being um more than 411 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:59,359 Speaker 1: five minutes, yeah, but less fewer than thirty one days. 412 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 1: As it turns out, Yeah, permanent is uh is Your 413 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: mileage may vary for the value of the word permanent, 414 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:11,440 Speaker 1: because the next CEO hired in was Scott Thompson, who 415 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,160 Speaker 1: was a member of the popular UH comedy troupe Kids 416 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:19,600 Speaker 1: in the Hall with Kevin McDonald and Thompson. Oh, all 417 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:22,080 Speaker 1: of my research is wrong. Now this is the president 418 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,399 Speaker 1: of eBay's PayPal group. Oh oh wait, no, I do 419 00:26:25,520 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: have this information. Okay, So, apart from creating create funny 420 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: characters like buddy, Uh this guy was I'm just kidding. 421 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,639 Speaker 1: I'm kidding, it's not that Scott Thompson. Fine, he he 422 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:41,040 Speaker 1: steps in, he becomes the new CEO, and at that 423 00:26:41,359 --> 00:26:45,480 Speaker 1: that same time, or around that same time, Young actually 424 00:26:45,560 --> 00:26:48,399 Speaker 1: resigns from the board of directors. So he had not 425 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:52,120 Speaker 1: been CEO for a while, but now he actually kind 426 00:26:52,119 --> 00:26:55,680 Speaker 1: of divorces himself from the company and says that it's 427 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,399 Speaker 1: his time to go and pursue interests that have nothing 428 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: to do with you. Who so I washed my hands 429 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,520 Speaker 1: of you. Yeah, the co founder walks away. Uh. So 430 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:08,560 Speaker 1: Scott Thompson becomes the new head of the company. And 431 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:12,159 Speaker 1: then by April of this year, the year we're recording 432 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:15,720 Speaker 1: this podcast, Yahoo comes out and says it's going to 433 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:21,120 Speaker 1: have to make some pretty drastic job cuts its workforce 434 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:24,879 Speaker 1: two thousand employees. Now remember back when it launched this ipo, 435 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 1: there were forty nine of them. Now two thousand people 436 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 1: are at least two thousand people are going to get cut. Um. 437 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,840 Speaker 1: He also Thompson says that he will split Yahoo into 438 00:27:35,840 --> 00:27:41,120 Speaker 1: three different operating groups, one of which is will oversee 439 00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:46,200 Speaker 1: the media websites. That's essentially the consumer group, one that's 440 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,680 Speaker 1: called the region group, which is responsible for revenue. And 441 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,720 Speaker 1: the third operating group is technology, which would be all 442 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:59,440 Speaker 1: the the systems running in the background that power Yahoo 443 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:02,200 Speaker 1: and UH and trying to develop those so that yeah, 444 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 1: who can be competitive and not necessarily rely on licensing 445 00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:11,639 Speaker 1: deals with other companies. Um. So he makes those those 446 00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:16,800 Speaker 1: announcements in April, and then in May, Thompson has his 447 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:19,119 Speaker 1: own scandal to deal with. Yeah. I remember we were 448 00:28:19,119 --> 00:28:23,760 Speaker 1: talking about how shareholders expect certain things from the company. Well, 449 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:28,280 Speaker 1: one of the shareholders was a company called Third Point, Yeah, 450 00:28:28,320 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: and a hedge fund, And the thing that they expected 451 00:28:31,320 --> 00:28:36,360 Speaker 1: was that the biographical information of the CEO was accurate 452 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:39,360 Speaker 1: and that the degrees that he claimed he held he 453 00:28:39,480 --> 00:28:42,040 Speaker 1: actually held, which is it turns out was not so 454 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 1: much the case. Yeah, that that was tiny problem was 455 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 1: that Thompson had on There was a securities filing that 456 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:54,840 Speaker 1: listed one of Thompson's achievements was a degree in computer science. Uh. 457 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,080 Speaker 1: It's turns out to be a fictional degree due to 458 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:02,000 Speaker 1: an inadvertent error, according to Yahoo. Yeah, Yeah, whose claim 459 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: was that it was just a mistake, like someone had 460 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,880 Speaker 1: just mistakenly attributed this degree in computer science to Thompson, 461 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 1: and that that was it was an innocent mistake. It 462 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,760 Speaker 1: was not intentional. They weren't trying to mislead anyone. Third 463 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 1: Point was having none of it. Yeah, he does, in 464 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: fact have a bachelor's in accounting, accounting different science or 465 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:28,680 Speaker 1: two different disciplines. As it turns out, can't account for that. Um, 466 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: you're an accountant, account for yourself. So yeah, and his 467 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:36,480 Speaker 1: number was up because with six percent of the shares, 468 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:40,400 Speaker 1: h third Point was really pushing hard. And this wasn't 469 00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: someone who owns a single share of Yahoo. This was 470 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 1: someone this was a company that Cloud had enough clout 471 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: to to at least raise a ruckus. Yeah, and they 472 00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:53,480 Speaker 1: said we want to see Yeah, a ruckus is rationanigans 473 00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:55,400 Speaker 1: can be called. And then it's get up the brooms. 474 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 1: And he said, we want to see all of his credentials. 475 00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: We want a senior credentials. Yeah. And eventually Thompson actually eventually, 476 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:09,320 Speaker 1: not days later, Thompson agrees to resign from the position 477 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,120 Speaker 1: of CEO, and in fact there was some evidence to 478 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:16,120 Speaker 1: show that he was. The error wasn't inadvertent. Yeah, the 479 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: error was not an error. It was a calculated misstatement 480 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: or a misstatement of the facts, or a fabrication if 481 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:25,320 Speaker 1: you prefer. There are a lot of different words we 482 00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 1: could use. Um, a fib would be another one we 483 00:30:29,040 --> 00:30:34,880 Speaker 1: could mention. So yeah, yeah, he he got defibrillated and uh. 484 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:38,320 Speaker 1: And so from the time he became CEO to the 485 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,680 Speaker 1: day he resigned, that span of time was a hundred 486 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:46,320 Speaker 1: and thirty days. So uh. At that point, a man 487 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:51,160 Speaker 1: named Ross Levinson, who was the media group head, became 488 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:55,440 Speaker 1: the interim CEO until they could find a replacement. And 489 00:30:55,480 --> 00:30:58,600 Speaker 1: then in July of two thousand twelve, that replacement was named. 490 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:03,320 Speaker 1: And that is one of the stories that has given 491 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:08,440 Speaker 1: people a new hope. Another Star Wars reference again, Uh 492 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:12,160 Speaker 1: for Yahoo and that that new CEO Marissa Meyer, who 493 00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:16,320 Speaker 1: was coming from the company that had given you who 494 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: so many headaches in the past. Google. Yes, she, in fact, 495 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,920 Speaker 1: she was an employee number twenty. Yes, she graduated from 496 00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:29,000 Speaker 1: wait for it, Stanford University. She's got a degree in 497 00:31:29,040 --> 00:31:32,760 Speaker 1: symbolic systems and a master's in computer science. This now 498 00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:37,600 Speaker 1: Marissa Meyer. I've listened to her speak. We have videos 499 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:42,800 Speaker 1: about of Marissa Meyer on the Curiosity website because she's 500 00:31:42,840 --> 00:31:45,400 Speaker 1: one of the experts that we have consulted for the 501 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:51,520 Speaker 1: Curiosity project. Marissa Meyer is she knows her stuff. I mean, 502 00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:59,320 Speaker 1: incredibly intelligent, very well spoken, very charismatic person. So she's 503 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:04,520 Speaker 1: not just well versed in the technology that is the 504 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:10,560 Speaker 1: foundation for today's web, she's also a people person. I 505 00:32:10,560 --> 00:32:15,200 Speaker 1: mean she she has a charisma that some computer scientists, 506 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:23,840 Speaker 1: the stereotypical computer scientist might not necessarily possess. Uh yeah, perhaps, well, 507 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:27,480 Speaker 1: she was employee number twenty at Google and and had 508 00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: her choice. She had a smart gest board of offers 509 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:33,280 Speaker 1: waiting for her when she finished. She was and she 510 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:36,560 Speaker 1: was the first female engineer at Google, the very first 511 00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:40,480 Speaker 1: female engineer to work for Google, employee number twenty. She 512 00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:42,880 Speaker 1: specialized if you want to know what her specialization was 513 00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 1: when she got these degrees, artificial intelligence. Interesting. I mean, 514 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: and here's another thing she is. She's a month older 515 00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:55,200 Speaker 1: than I am. One month. She is now the CEO 516 00:32:55,240 --> 00:32:58,880 Speaker 1: of YAH who she holds these degrees. She is by 517 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:04,280 Speaker 1: far wicked, smart, way smarter than I am. And uh 518 00:33:04,320 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 1: and I am. I have nothing but admiration for her. 519 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:13,719 Speaker 1: Her accomplishments are phenomenal, and her her span of knowledge 520 00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:17,440 Speaker 1: in her field is amazing to me. Yeah, she she 521 00:33:17,560 --> 00:33:21,560 Speaker 1: has her work cut out for Frankly, but and some 522 00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:25,320 Speaker 1: people have said that she is a little difficult to 523 00:33:25,320 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 1: work with at times. But she's also the youngest CEO 524 00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 1: of a fortune company. She's you know, she's There are 525 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:39,240 Speaker 1: some people who say she's not tested in a leadership 526 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:42,160 Speaker 1: role of the scope, which you could. I mean, that's true. 527 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: She has not had a leadership role of this size. 528 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:50,040 Speaker 1: She's headed some major departments within Google. Uh she headed 529 00:33:50,120 --> 00:33:53,680 Speaker 1: the search products and the User Experience department. She also 530 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:57,520 Speaker 1: then headed the local maps and Location services department, but 531 00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:01,640 Speaker 1: she's never led an entire company, let alone a company 532 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:07,320 Speaker 1: that has had as public a history of problems and 533 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:12,319 Speaker 1: issues as Yahoo. So there's it's not not to say 534 00:34:12,360 --> 00:34:14,719 Speaker 1: that she is going to turn everything around and that 535 00:34:14,840 --> 00:34:17,840 Speaker 1: she has the magic pill that's going to cure Yahoo's 536 00:34:17,880 --> 00:34:20,200 Speaker 1: ills and make it a power player in the technology 537 00:34:20,200 --> 00:34:27,279 Speaker 1: space again. But I've seen a lot more optimism, cautious 538 00:34:27,280 --> 00:34:33,080 Speaker 1: optimism about Yahoo than I have in years. Oh. Absolutely, absolutely, Well, 539 00:34:33,120 --> 00:34:36,120 Speaker 1: immediately after coming in and keep in mind, this happened 540 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:39,799 Speaker 1: in July. We're recording this in mid August, so she's 541 00:34:39,800 --> 00:34:42,240 Speaker 1: been on the job about a month more or less, 542 00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:47,080 Speaker 1: and um. She immediately came in and began making changes 543 00:34:47,440 --> 00:34:50,080 Speaker 1: to the corporate to the corporate culture there. She also 544 00:34:50,120 --> 00:34:53,880 Speaker 1: made an announcement that got people uh talking in the 545 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:57,719 Speaker 1: sense of wow, she just became CEO and she's going 546 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,480 Speaker 1: to be on maternity leave before too long. It turns 547 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:05,000 Speaker 1: out she's priggers. Um but uh and yes, but people 548 00:35:05,640 --> 00:35:08,440 Speaker 1: buy and large it's it's funny because uh. With as 549 00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:12,080 Speaker 1: much scrutiny as Yahoo's ceo s have received over the 550 00:35:12,120 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: past few years, Um, there is the question on many 551 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:20,759 Speaker 1: news sites going can she pull this off? She's having 552 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:23,200 Speaker 1: a baby, And by and large they were the answers 553 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:27,200 Speaker 1: i've seen are yes, now, let's move on. That's why 554 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:31,360 Speaker 1: are you like worried about that? That's you know, well 555 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:35,080 Speaker 1: and well, some people might say that that would affect 556 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:37,120 Speaker 1: your judgment on what if you decide you want to 557 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:41,040 Speaker 1: stay home with the kid. Most people I've read about 558 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: seem to think that she is absolutely capable of separating 559 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:47,480 Speaker 1: her work life from her home life and coming into 560 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:50,960 Speaker 1: to Yahoo every day and making a differences. She seems 561 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:53,040 Speaker 1: like she's already taken charge pretty well. I think I 562 00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:56,759 Speaker 1: think most of the doubts there. There are too possible 563 00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,719 Speaker 1: sources for those doubts. One is just that Yahoo has 564 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:04,080 Speaker 1: had so tumultuous recent past and it's hard to think 565 00:36:04,120 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 1: of anyone getting a grip on that and and getting 566 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:10,160 Speaker 1: things to calm down and turn around. Uh. And the 567 00:36:10,239 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 1: other is a little bit more of a sexist opinion. 568 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,480 Speaker 1: I think that I don't really I think it's I 569 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: think it's uh immaterial, and I think that applies necessarily. Okay, well, 570 00:36:22,640 --> 00:36:24,799 Speaker 1: there's maybe this is because I happened to work we 571 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:29,759 Speaker 1: both Chris and I work with some amazing women at 572 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:33,920 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works, some incredibly talented writers, editors, developers, some 573 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:36,680 Speaker 1: of whom are moms, some of many of whom are moms, 574 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:40,879 Speaker 1: and all of whom do a phenomenal job. So when 575 00:36:40,880 --> 00:36:43,239 Speaker 1: you have that experience day to day, you're like, I 576 00:36:43,360 --> 00:36:47,960 Speaker 1: don't understand your question. Well, it's uh, Marissa Meyer is 577 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 1: definitely a strong person for the role, uh, no matter 578 00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:55,960 Speaker 1: no matter what other personal things are going on in 579 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:57,759 Speaker 1: her life. And I really don't think she's going to 580 00:36:58,520 --> 00:37:01,000 Speaker 1: intentionally let the company, and I think she's a good 581 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:06,360 Speaker 1: person to lead them through the change. That's my personal opinion. So, um, 582 00:37:06,400 --> 00:37:09,960 Speaker 1: I'm kind of excited. I'm one of those people who 583 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:14,000 Speaker 1: likes to see competition out there. I think, YEAHO has 584 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:18,360 Speaker 1: a chance to uh to reinvent itself and stay relevant 585 00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:21,560 Speaker 1: um in the years going forward and compete with with 586 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:27,239 Speaker 1: players like Facebook and Google on different fronts. So um, 587 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:30,080 Speaker 1: I'm I'm excited to see that they have a person 588 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:34,120 Speaker 1: like her in charge. Yeah, yeah, definitely, and it will 589 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:36,600 Speaker 1: you know, it's gonna take some time for us to 590 00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:38,719 Speaker 1: see how this shakes out and whether or not it 591 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:44,080 Speaker 1: ultimately pays off, but you know, it's it's nice to 592 00:37:44,120 --> 00:37:47,120 Speaker 1: see some optimism for a change, so even if it 593 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:50,080 Speaker 1: is of the cautious variety. So we will keep our 594 00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:53,279 Speaker 1: eyes on the developments of Yahoo and maybe who knows, 595 00:37:53,360 --> 00:37:56,919 Speaker 1: maybe uh in in a couple hundred episodes, we will 596 00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:59,680 Speaker 1: revisit the company and have a whole new set of 597 00:37:59,719 --> 00:38:03,279 Speaker 1: story used to tell about what has happened and some 598 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:06,240 Speaker 1: of the shenanigans and brooms that go on behind the scenes. 599 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:10,040 Speaker 1: And then the next six CEOs. Yeah yeah, that was 600 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:14,720 Speaker 1: five CEOs. Five years is rough? Uh All right, guys, 601 00:38:14,719 --> 00:38:17,239 Speaker 1: Well that wraps up this discussion about Yahoo. If you 602 00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:20,280 Speaker 1: have suggestions for topics we should cover in future episodes 603 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,399 Speaker 1: of tech Stuff. You can contact us through email. Our 604 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:27,839 Speaker 1: address is tex Stuff at Discovery dot com, or let 605 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,200 Speaker 1: us know on Facebook or Twitter. Our handle at both 606 00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:33,600 Speaker 1: of those locations is text Stuff, H. S. W and 607 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:36,160 Speaker 1: Chris and I will talk to you again really soon. 608 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:40,040 Speaker 1: For more on this and thousands of other topics. Is 609 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:46,200 Speaker 1: it how stuff works dot Com. Brought to you by 610 00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:49,680 Speaker 1: the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you