

Yahoo's Mayer Steadies Ship - rpm4321
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323375204578270243425948084.html

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ashray
I don't know how much she had to do with it, but the new flickr iPhone app
really got me excited. It was a combination of being tired of looking at n00b
pictures on instagram and finally being able to explore flickr properly on the
iphone. I even ended up signing up for flickr pro. The 3 month free
extension/trial that they provided at Christmas/New Years was pretty cool too.

This, while I was waiting to see which photo service would finally kill
flickr. The final nail in the coffin so to speak. Pleasantly surprised.

~~~
kmfrk
The app is kinda weird, though. Is it me, or is it WebView-based? It was the
first time I had to do a friggin' _CAPTCHA_ on an iOS device(!).

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robotmay
I'm surprised at the lack of "innovative" new captcha ideas targetted towards
mobile devices.

"Spin your phone clockwise 3 times and lick the screen to prove you're not a
robot"

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kmfrk
It wouldn't kill them to do a viewport check. I mean, unless they expect
crackers to run their servers from a jailbroken iPad?

I also had to change my Yahoo! password for Flickr a while back, and I think
the maximum length of my password was still at ~32 characters ... and there's
not two-factor authentication to boot.

Yahoo! is very AOL-like still, which is one of those things I really, really
hope Meyer can do away with.

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kanzure
> I mean, unless they expect crackers to run their servers from a jailbroken
> iPad?

Way more sophisticated than that. Think in terms of emulation, simulation,
HTTP spoofing, etc.

~~~
kmfrk
Ah, of course. D'oh.

Maybe this is just my first real WebView experience with a log-in process. I
just wonder how there isn't an alternative (besides a native app).

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arocks
Mayer's approach seems to be an inside-out approach rather than playing to
Wall Street. This is a very bold strategy. But I believe this is best for the
long term success of Yahoo since there are some very talented engineers
working there. If she can spur a Google-like innovation culture, we can see
Yahoo reclaim its lost glory soon.

~~~
OGinparadise
_Mayer's approach seems to be an inside-out approach rather than playing to
Wall Street._

This is the honeymoon period though, let's wait and see. Yahoo is easily
pressured by a few hedge funds, so Mayer will have to deliver result$ soon
enough I fear.

If you think Google doesn't play to Wall Street, just count the number of ads
on the pages (or the number on non-ads, it's just easier) and major search
"updates"

~~~
kmfrk
She stopped the planned issuance of dividends[1], so she seems to wield her
CEO stick somewhat well.

[1]: [http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/10/as-marissa-mayer-annoys-
inv...](http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/10/as-marissa-mayer-annoys-investors-by-
keeping-4-2b-in-dividends-yhoo-is-down-5-4/)

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bane
Side note: with the pending shutdown of iGoogle, I went on a hunt a couple
days ago for replacements. Turns out myYahoo! more or less fits the bill, and
some of the gadgets (bookmarks) are a bit better.

It's still a bit cluttered and messy looking in the UI department (and some
things only work in FF not Chrome), but after 15 minutes I had 90% of my
iGoogle page set back up almost exactly like my original.

This could be an easy way for her to get constant eyeballs on Yahoo! as I go
to my iGoogle page at least 20 times a day.

~~~
pgrote
Any other options on an iGoogle replacement?

~~~
bane
There's a few, but there honestly isn't a great replacement. I honestly _do
not understand_ the logic behind this move.

"Hey let's get rid of the service we have that requires almost no engineering
resources and brings people to google multiple times per day!"

Outside of myYahoo there's an homage to iGoogle

<http://www.ighome.com/>

and here's a bunch of alternatives

[http://www.howtogeek.com/129155/6-alternatives-to-igoogle-
fo...](http://www.howtogeek.com/129155/6-alternatives-to-igoogle-for-
personalized-homepages/)

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samyxp17
Yahoo doesn't have what it takes to become a content company. Mayer and the
management have not really defined what that even means to them. They are
aggregators, they borrow data, they do not create it.

Unless Yahoo plans on becoming a actual Journalistic organization, like the
New York Times,Bloomberg, ABCNews or USA Today they cannot claim to be a
content company.

Yahoo needs to pick, Technology or Content. Apple, Google, Microsoft and even
Facebook have already decided. They distribute a lot of content but they are
firmly in the technology business and there isn't much confusion about that.

~~~
greggman
Microsoft decided? They have their XBox division which makes lots of content.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Studios>

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michaelpinto
I have to say that it's nice to see a real product person running Yahoo! I'll
grant you that it's just the early days, but my gut tells me that we may see a
second act for this old school classic.

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firefoxman1
> _"[Mayer] said she wants Yahoo, [...] to become a force in mobile-device
> software for consumers and to provide "customized" content for people based
> on their interests, background and location."_

I know that's vague, but isn't that the bundle of buzzwords every clueless
Fortune 500 company wants to use 2013? No doubt Mayer can execute it better
than most, but I'm wondering what Yahoo's advantage is over anyone else. What
do they bring to the table?

~~~
potatolicious
A massive existing userbase that has proven surprisingly loyal despite lagging
product offerings.

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nQuo
Their newish (and enticingly named) 'TimeTraveler' app is very well-thought
out. UI is a bit clunky though.

