Yahoo Corporation Company

Company overview Yahoo incorporated as an internet service provider that serves both individual users and business users internationally. Yahoo Corporation was founded by David Filo and Jerry Yang in the year 1995. Yahoo is currently headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Yahoo started its commencement from the year 1995 (About Yahoo, 2008). The Yahoo Corporation has developed itself as a multifaceted brand that serves the internet users globally. It has also become the worlds largest global online network of integrated services. Yahoo has become one of the leading computer programs on the World Wide Web. Initially, Yahoo Corporation had 500 million users that visited the sites every week. The company has office locations in Europe, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, Canada and the United States. In year 1996, the corporation went public on NASDAQ (About Yahoo, 2008). SWOT Analysis The external environment includes all the factors outside the organization which provide opportunities or pose threats to the organization. The internal environment refers to all the factors within an organization which impart strengths or cause weakness of a strategic nature (About Yahoo, 2008). The environment in which an organization exists can be, therefore defined as the opportunities and threats operating in the external environment apart from the strengths and weakness existing in the internal environment. A systematic approach to understand the environment of Yahoo is the SWOT analysis. Internal Factor Analysis (IFA) of the Yahoo Corporation Strengths: The strength is an inherent capacity which an organization uses to gain a strategic and competitive advantage. The strengths of Yahoo Corporation are: Yahoo Corporation has beaten Google in the mobile market. It has more appurtenant products as compared to its competitors. It has strong brand recognition and can be accessed easily by anyone. It focuses on affiliated advertising for large adverting accounts. It has over 500 million users of its services and solutions. International business presence is its key long term strength (SWOT Analysis Yahoo, 2008).

 Weaknesses: A weakness is an inherent limitation or constraint which creates strategic disadvantages for the company. It is overdependence on a single product line, which is potentially risky (SWOT Analysis Yahoo, 2008). The weaknesses of Yahoo are: Yahoo is ranked 5th in visitors among video sites. YouTube was first owned by Google. There has been near about 3 % slump per year in Yahoos image search. Google search results produce double revenues as compared to Yahoo. Due to competition, advertising revenues are falling (SWOT Analysis Yahoo, 2008). For Yahoo, differentiation is difficult. Almost all of its services are available from other sources. The future of Yahoo is uncertain as the technology develops and new unforeseen advertising media emerges. External Factor Analysis (EFA) of the yahoo Corporation: Opportunities: the various opportunities available to Yahoo Corporation are: Internet video advertising is expected to increase by 82 %; Yahoo has the opportunity to emphasize on internet video advertising. Yahoo should emphasize on the expansion of Broadband. For Yahoo, international market is a huge opportunity. For Yahoo, Mobile technologies offer another opportunity. In the present era, the users are accessing the Internet through personal computers, but in the coming years, the televisions, phones, music players will be merged with internet (SWOT Analysis Yahoo, 2008). Threats: the threats to Yahoo Corporation are: Yahoo has only 24% of online searches as compared to Google which has about 50% of all online searches. The attitudes of consumer towards online advertising may become more negative. The numbers of competitors are increasing. In terms of revenues, Google is exceeding Yahoo.

Alternative strategies or Recommendations It is clear that the Yahoo Corporation has faced some major challenges in staying on top of the Internet market. It is suggested that the corporation should continue to grow its customer base (About Yahoo, 2008). The corporation can grow its customer base by successfully capturing the international market. In addition, Yahoo can enlarge its target customer statistics by including customers outside the age group of 18-34 like people of above 55 years (About Yahoo, 2008). Yahoo has to distinguish itself from the rest of its competitors in the Internet market in order to successfully accomplish these objectives. The alternative strategy that the Yahoo Corporation can adopt is:
Capturing

the international market:

In capturing the international market, Yahoo has been comparatively unsuccessful. Though, Yahoo provides its services in a variety of languages but it has been unable to contend with national companies of other countries (Kotler, 2008). For example, in China, Yahoo holds less than 5% of the total Chinese market share. The majority of the China market is dominated by Chinese search engine known as Baidu.com. In August 2005, Google, the American rival has captured a significant portion i.e. approximately 33% of the Chinese market. Moreover, near about 71.3% of the overall international market has been captured by Google. Some of this percentage was grabbed from Yahoo (About Yahoo, 2008). Yahoo must ensure that internet access is available to its target market in order to strategically grow its customer base. If the target market does not have the means or ability to access services, Yahoo will not be successful. It is important for Yahoo Corporation to capture international customers during the exposure to the Internet. This can create a comfort-zone for its new users. Yahoo should become familiar with the likes, dislikes, habits and other characteristics of each niche of the international market. The company should use appropriate marketing channels to create the demand in international market. The marketing techniques like sales promotion, advertising, publicity, etc. will work more effectively to capture international market.

 Expanding

the target market:

To become successful, it is important for the Yahoo Corporation to expand its target market. It is important that Yahoo tries to capture those who are its first-time Internet users. Through partnerships with telecommunications providers and cable companies, Yahoo should work to become a primary part of a new Internet service package (About Yahoo, 2008). Yahoo can successfully get new web users to begin their Internet use. The users use the internet because it allows them to communicate with their friends and family members who are separated geographically. People like the Internet because it allows them to find information and items that they cant find elsewhere. With this demographic, travel, leisure and financial information tend to be popular. Yahoo should promote its different offerings in publications and media to achieve the best reach and to focus on the particular areas. Yahoo should publicize itself as a source of health information as well as a site that provides travel information for those who plan for retirement. Yahoo should portray itself as a portal of information.
Differentiation:

To remain competitive, Yahoo should adopt and initiate new projects. The company should begin as a search engine and expand its offerings by including finance, personals and hot Jobs and other activities. For example, Yahoo has realized that the potential users of Yahoo music consequently acquire a significant share of the online music industry. The ability to differentiate itself from its competitors is the main reason for the success of Yahoo. To promote new products, Yahoo is able to take advantage of its brand equity and its large user base. Yahoo should not limit itself to fixed media sites. Yahoo should attempt to commence a multimedia Internet project called runner. This video-intensive and web-based reality TV project will focus on a fugitive crisscrossing the country. Yahoo Corporation should also expand its Internet-based market to compete against traditional media.

Conclusion Thus, it is concluded that in the dynamic Internet market, Yahoo is a strong and relatively established company. Its core competence includes focus on young adult users, regularly improving fixed web sites, driving advertising revenue and encouraging employees to be practical. All this points have been a formula for its success. Yahoo must apply aggressive strategies and maintain healthy financial statement to remain competitive. It is important that Yahoo carefully review all these strategies and examine the timing of its initiatives. The company can achieve its target and growth by hiring competent managers and experienced consultants as well as by remaining focused on its core competencies. By maintaining the strategies, Yahoo will be able to position itself to become a leader in the race for multimedia domination. An understanding of the external environment in terms of opportunities and threats and the internal environment in term of strengths and weaknesses is important for the existence, growth and profitability of Yahoo Corporation.