Yodel Anecdotal

Okay, It's Not Just Buh-Bye at Yahoo–Here Are Two Hires!

Kara Swisher in News on September 15, 2010 at 3:00 am PT

While it seems BoomTown is all about the who’s-leaving-Yahoo-now posts, it’s not so! Case in point: Here are two folks the Silicon Valley Internet giant has just hired.

Yahoo Acquires Geolocation Service Koprol (Which Translates to Foursquare of Indonesia)

Kara Swisher in News on May 24, 2010 at 10:07 pm PT

If you can’t buy Foursquare–as Yahoo did not after aggressive efforts to do so–then…buy the Indonesian version of it! Koprol, a Jakarta-based social geolocation service, bears striking similarities to the hot New York-based one Yahoo offered $100 million for recently to no result. Yahoo announced the purchase of the Asian mobile-focused start-up for an undisclosed sum tonight.

Yahoo Snaps Up Associated Content for $90 Million to Compete With AOL and Demand Media

Kara Swisher in News on May 18, 2010 at 1:00 pm PT

Yahoo–in a clear attempt to get deep into the social content space and better compete with both AOL and Demand Media–announced the acquisition of Associated Content. Sources close to the situation said the price was $90 million in cash, which is a solid outcome for Associated Content, a start-up that found itself in an increasingly crowded space for cheaper content.

Yahoo Tries to Recover From "It's Y!ou" Ad Disaster by Attacking Google's One Box (This Is Going to End in Tears)

Kara Swisher in News on May 5, 2010 at 11:28 pm PT

Say it ain’t you, Yahoo. And yet, here’s one of the major new conceptual directions of the troubled Internet giant’s next pricey marketing campaign, aimed at recovering from its first advertising foray, which is widely considered a failure: A full frontal attack on search leader Google. In fact, it’s an odd attempt to mock the simple and elegant white box that allowed Google to steal Yahoo’s thunder many years back. “There’s nothing to look at but a box and a button,” says the voice-over to the Yahoo commercial about an unnamed, but obvious, Web site. “When you look at this homepage nothing looks back at you.”

Yahoo's "Project Rushmore" Begins With Massive Facebook Connect Deployment Across Internet Giant

Kara Swisher in News on December 2, 2009 at 5:30 am PT

A few weeks ago, several sources at Yahoo began telling BoomTown about a mysterious “Project Rushmore,” which was described as a massive integration of major social networking sites across the giant Internet portal. Now, the first unveiling of Project Rushmore comes with this morning’s announcement that Yahoo will be integrating Facebook Connect with its many properties, from its powerful media sites to its Flickr photo service to its email. One delicious irony here: Yahoo almost bought Facebook several years ago.

Yahoo's Yodel Anecdotal Blogger Will Not Be Yodeling Anymore

Kara Swisher in News on October 30, 2009 at 11:49 pm PT

While Nicki Dugan (pictured here) was not one of the top execs at Yahoo, she certainly is typical of many at the company who stuck with it through many ups and downs. No longer, according to a memo BoomTown obtained, since the longtime PR staffer–who has been at Yahoo for almost a decade and who was previously with an outside public relations firm that worked for Yahoo–will leave the company Monday.

Got Yahoo? Internet Giant Hires Goodby as Top Creative Agency for Its Ongoing Brand Revitalization.

Kara Swisher in News on October 19, 2009 at 5:55 pm PT

In a shift that is sure to be much commented on by the advertising industry, Yahoo has tapped Goodby, Silverstein & Partners to take the lead for its creative, advertising, digital marketing and strategic planning efforts. The San Francisco-based Goodby, which is owned by the Omnicom Group, is known for innovative ideas and has done such memorable campaigns as the terrific “Got Milk?” campaign. Perhaps a “Got Yahoo?” campaign is in the future? Until now, the top job of goosing Yahoo’s tarnished brand, as part of a recently launched $100 million marketing push, has been helmed by Ogilvy & Mather.

How Is Yahoo's Massive "Metro" Homepage Redesign Going? It Depends on Who You Ask.

Kara Swisher in News on February 14, 2009 at 1:38 am PT

Late last night, Yahoo’s Tapan Bhat posted an update on the ongoing redesign of the Internet giant’s homepage, a massive undertaking given that 300 million people visit it each month. Bhat, who is SVP of Yahoo’s Front Doors, Communities and Network Services, said the company was completing the first phase of its “bucket testing” and collecting feedback, but that, “Bottom line is we’re getting closer to the final design, but we’re not quite there yet.” Indeed not, according to several sources at Yahoo, who said that the massive underhaul of the homepage has been a much more complex, much dicier effort and was taking a lot longer than expected to launch. And, more importantly, new CEO Carol Bartz is also giving it the once-over.

Van Natta Takes Playlist CEO Job, With New Investment by Pittman

Kara Swisher in News on November 10, 2008 at 9:00 pm PT

Former Facebook exec Owen Van Natta will take the CEO job at a music discovery site called Playlist, a move that had been speculated last week, after he did not end up taking another position as head of MySpace Music. Van Natta’s arrival at Playlist was not the only news for the Palo Alto, Calif.-based start-up–former AOL exec Bob Pittman’s Pilot Investment Group is also investing an undisclosed amount of money in Playlist, and Pittman will join its board. The site, which has been called Project Playlist, had previously raised several million dollars. The new round of funding super-sized that, sources said, hovering at about $18 million. “Discovery around music is exploding on the Internet,” said Van Natta to BoomTown, in an interview this afternoon, giving it as his main reason for joining Playlist.