An article titled “How Yahoo Blew It” has been making the rounds, and although similar stories appear every day, this one had a bit of heft: it appeared in Wired. Yahoo is now firing back – or, to be more accurate, politely responding.
Fred Vogelstein’s original article chronicled mistakes and difficulties throughout the search engine company’s existence. Vogelstein did this for 5 full pages, and faulted CEO Terry Semel for many of the problems. Ouch.
Yahoo’s Nicki Dugan (of Corporate Communications) responded within just a few hours. “Negative press notwithstanding, Yahoo! remains a leading force on the Internet,” she asserted.
“Since its inception, Yahoo! has seen numerous trends rise and fall and various competitive threats come and go,” Dugan continued. “But we’ve maintained our position as one of the leaders in this industry because we’ve been able to adapt and innovate – and capitalize on our many strengths. We believe our recent realignment organizes us do so more effectively while capturing the major growth opportunities ahead.”
Dugan did not address the Wired article on a point-by-point basis (not that anyone could have fairly expected her to do so). She did write, however, “We know that Yahoo! had its challenges this year and we know that we’re going to continue to take bruises publicly until Panama begins to bear fruit, but we’re here for the long haul, and we’re focused to win.”
Vogelstein and Dugan both, of course, make valid points. In terms of picking sides, observers appear to be split: Good Morning Silicon Valley called Dugan’s response “an excuse-laden press release,” even as Mark Pincus wrote, “as a shareholder, i dont count yahoo out.”
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Doug is a staff writer for murdok. Visit murdok for the latest eBusiness news.
