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More than a company struggling to find its way in the post-dotcom era, Yahoo! has in recent years attempted to make a comeback bigger than the rumored Backstreet Boys reunion tour for 2017. Disappointing economic production, stifling structural issues, and a failure to perform well against their stiff competition have left the company in a rough spot.
One of the first search engines on the scene, Yahoo! has seen the ups and downs of the technological revolution better than any other internet startup. A grassroots dot-com brand that soared to success overnight at the beginning of the internet boom only to lose it’s way in the abundant landscape of the world wide web, Yahoo! is trying to stay afloat. A recent change in its CEO, the purchase of a major social media site, and the rumored upcoming sale of the company are steps in the right direction, but the world has to wonder, are they enough?
We heart Yahoo! and whether or not they are sold or saved in the next couple of years, here are seven cool facts you should know about them:
Yahoo! has perhaps some of the most humble beginnings in tech startups: the catalogue was created in 1994 by two Ph.D. engineering students at Stanford University as a distraction from their dissertation work. David Filo and Jerry Yang lived and worked in a trailer that has been described as a mother’s nightmare. They started Yahoo! as a way of distracting themselves with a competition to create a list of all the websites that existed and were being created on the internet every day. Without knowing it, these two men created a new www like we had never seen before.
Originally titled, “Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web,” Yahoo.com was not created until March 1994 when they changed the name to avoid a conflict with a trademarked barbecue sauce. Yahoo! stands for “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle” and was chosen by Jerry and David for its literal definition.
Yahoo! was groundbreaking because it was the first online directory of websites that organized itself by hierarchy rather than index style, making usability much easier and more accessible for its users. People could search by specific categories to find everything added and catalogued in Yahoo! It was the “yellow pages” of the Internet if you will. David and Jerry created the perfect database for the new and soon-to-be explosive resource known as the world wide web.
What started out as a word of mouth, loyal following has grown into the multi-billion dollar influencing website, Yahoo!, which makes it a truly grassroots tech startup . People came to the site because of its personalized feel and stayed because of its trustworthy database. When Jerry and David started the process of adding members to the team, they did not incorporate an algorithm for the website cataloguing. Instead, they hired a team of people to continue building the list by hand. A company which began with only two people is now estimated to have 13,000 full-time employees.
Yahoo! was one of the first online companies to market itself as a brand rather than simply a website. They advertised on TV and radio, gaining momentum and popularity in the dot-com era because of the brand marketing as a cool, laid-back California company.
Of the six CEOs Yahoo! has had over the last 21 years, two of them have been female. Carol Bartz and Marissa Mayer have held the prestigious office and both women were tasked with turning the struggling venture around. According to The Street, Mayer was the hope and Hail Mary of the company when she was brought on in 2011 and has been under fire for her actions and policies since taking the office. Despite opinions and prejudice, Mayer has succeeded on two fronts for the company: she revamped Yahoo! Mail and purchased Tumblr. Both were a step in the right direction, but many fear it may be too late for her to save the dying tech powerhouse.
For their 10th anniversary, Yahoo! gave all of their employees free Baskin Robbins ice cream vouchers! Talk about a cool celebration!
