Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer
Perhaps emboldened by an impending US$16bn IPO by Alibaba in which it has a significant stake, Yahoo! is on the warpath and one of the latest objectives of CEO Marissa Mayer is a brave plan to get Yahoo! to replace Google as the default search on Apple’s mobile devices.
This week, Yahoo!’s shares rose 7pc on strong results from Alibaba and a likely IPO. It has also been buoyed by quarterly results that saw revenues from its core advertising business grow 2pc, reversing several consecutive quarterly declines.
Yahoo! is in full tilt towards building a viable mobile search engine and monetisation platform to convince Apple to make Yahoo! the default search on the iPad and iPhone, as well as its Safari desktop and mobile browsers, Re/Code reported.
It is also understood that Mayer has focused in particular on Apple’s head of design Jony Ive to champion the plan.
Yahoo! is also understood to be working on a plan to create a viable rival to YouTube by focusing on professional content rather than user-generated content.
The objectives by the internet portal are not far-fetched, especially when you consider Mayer’s pedigree.
Her time as one of Google’s earliest employees and most senior executives before becoming CEO of Yahoo! have sharpened her abilities for engineering Yahoo! in the direction of these goals.
