10 ms·

One strategy for Yahoo: Turn Google's strengths into weaknesses by opening up all of Yahoo's products (Search, Mail, Finance, Maps, Sports, News) to developers

One strategy for Yahoo: Turn Google's strengths into weaknesses by opening up all of Yahoo's products (Search, Mail, Finance, Maps, Sports, News) to developers to be maximally programmable. Allow developers to monetize in any way they feel like (aside from fraud) and let them link together apps in creative mashups. This links together YQL, Yahoo Pipes, YUI, BOSS, and several other existing Yahoo technologies into Yahoo as the platform for the Open Web. If Marissa wanted to really push hard on this: buy Blekko, take a big stake in Github, buy Mozilla, and possibly buy Meteor and/or DerbyJS. That gives you a tech stack which is pretty strong in search, best of class among developers, pretty strong in browsers, and the future of web development. Then let developers knit the pieces together and give them contractual terms which stipulate you won't go up the stack at them like Facebook, Apple, and Twitter did if their apps are successful. Basically, if Apple represents ultimate centralization and Google is somewhat open, turn Yahoo into the ultra open, monetizable platform for the web. They have the traffic, they could make this a very attractive proposition for developers.

filip01 14y ago
For the record, Mozilla is a 501(c)(3).
- robryan 14y ago
  Maybe just try and get actively involved in Mozilla.
- sxp 14y ago
  That is the Mozilla Foundation. There is also the for-profit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation
  - capnrefsmmat 14y ago
    ...which is owned by the Foundation. I doubt the Foundation will hand it over.
  - mburns 14y ago
    "The Mozilla Corporation was established on August 3, 2005 to handle the revenue-related operations of the Mozilla Foundation. As a non-profit, the Mozilla Foundation is limited in terms of the types and amounts of revenue." The for-profit Mozilla Corporation only exists for tax purposes, and is wholly owned and controlled by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation.
- ahi 14y ago
  501(c)(3)s can be sold to for-profits. It's just a little complicated as an appropriate recipient for the purchase $$$ needs to be found among other things.
wamatt 14y ago
Interesting... Mozilla and Yahoo would make a good strategy, considering Google/Mozilla relationship has cooled in recent years. I like your Github/Meteor suggestion as well, albeit unlikely that either of those companies would take money or influence from Yahoo. Also don't think Marissa Mayer has the vision for these sort of changes, although hope I'm wrong on this.
- shykes 14y ago
  Yahoo already has a real-time javascript framework of its own: http://developer.yahoo.com/cocktails/mojito/ http://developer.yahoo.com/cocktails/mojito/
  - wamatt 14y ago
    Yeah. The point was more about mindshare and not just tech. "X has an image problem." where X can be any tech from an uncool company, even if it is fundamentally decent.
    - shykes 14y ago
      I understand your point, but mindshare can be difficult to evaluate. Do you actually know how popular Mojito is? I certainly have noticed the popularity of Meteor - and unpopularity of Mojito - on HN, but how does that translate to the general population of developers?
      - wamatt 14y ago
        Indeed. Sentiment analysis is a problem. I think there are some companies working. It is a real phenomenon, but just hard to access empirical quantified data at the moment. As a quick measure I use things like Google Insights, compete.com, Github presence / stats etc.
drumdance 14y ago
This seems like a good strategy. I've long thought Google should buy Github (assuming they would sell).
gruseom 14y ago
Huh. You might be on to something there. "Champions of the open web" is a big niche that's empty right now, largely because of Google's failure to occupy it – an unforced error in my opinion. Yahoo under Marissa could seize that position. It could turn them from uncool to cool and win them a lot of good will among hackers very quickly. I'd be surprised but delighted if she did this.
streptomycin 14y ago
How is that supposed to make money?
nl 14y ago
Turn Google's strengths into weaknesses by opening up all of Yahoo's products (Search, Mail, Finance, Maps, Sports, News) to developers to be maximally programmable. This sounds great, in a handwavy way. In practice though I'd like to hear specifics about what Yahoo could/would offer that Google doesn't already? Search: https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview Mail: https://developers.google.com/google-apps/gmail/ https://developers.google.com/google-apps/gmail/ Maps: Seriously? I'm not even going to bother linking to the Google Maps API Google doesn't have great developer stories in Finance, Sports or News. I guess there are some opportunities there, but exactly what they are isn't obvious. Anyway, isn't this whole strategy what Yahoo tried in the 2006-09 timeframe? It failed then (mostly by failing to bring in revenue) - why would it be different now?
- mbell 14y ago
  > Maps: Seriously? I'm not even going to bother linking to the Google Maps API There is a reason many have transitioned to OSM based data and tile hosting services: price. The Google Maps API is no longer the "no-brainer" that it once was among developers.
  - jlarocco 14y ago
    Google charges the most for maps because they have the best service. And generally speaking, I don't think competing on price is a great strategy for turning the company around. The OSM map services will have a big price advantage because all of their data is free, even though it's not as good as Google's. And if Yahoo enhances the data, or gets their own data and tries to charge a premium, then they're back to where they are now trying to compete with Google... I'm not saying they can't make a better service for cheaper, but their focus should be on making a great map service, not on cutting the price.
  - Evbn 14y ago
    Google drastically cut back on the price increase. It isn't so bad anymore.
- ramanujan 14y ago
jlarocco 14y ago
I don't see the connection you're making with GitHub. Whatever it may be, I'd prefer if Yahoo stays away. I'm against it enough that I would move my paid GitHub account to BitBucket. I understand they're trying to change their reputation, but I still remember how they killed Delicious and see how they've let Flickr bit rot. Let them practice not killing the software they buy before they buy another service I use.
- ramanujan 14y ago
  Re: Github, it'd be pretty interesting to allow one click deploys from github.com to a Yahoo app or widget. Millions of engineers would also see the Yahoo logo all day long.
- antidoh 14y ago
  Yes, please. I used Delicious but never liked it, it was merely closest to what I wanted. Now I use pinboard, and I mostly like it. I actually like Firefox, so please, leave it alone.
patio11 14y ago
This would make a bunch of SEOs of my acquaintance absolutely giddy, because you could use e.g. Yahoo keyword data or the proprietary financial data which is just maddening to get one's hand on to create arbitrarily large data-heavy sites... to rank in Google.
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  The reason why that data isn't freely available probably has to do with the fact that it's proprietary.

filip01 14y ago

For the record, Mozilla is a 501(c)(3).

robryan 14y ago
Maybe just try and get actively involved in Mozilla.
sxp 14y ago
That is the Mozilla Foundation. There is also the for-profit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mozilla_Corporation
- capnrefsmmat 14y ago
  ...which is owned by the Foundation. I doubt the Foundation will hand it over.
- mburns 14y ago
  "The Mozilla Corporation was established on August 3, 2005 to handle the revenue-related operations of the Mozilla Foundation. As a non-profit, the Mozilla Foundation is limited in terms of the types and amounts of revenue." The for-profit Mozilla Corporation only exists for tax purposes, and is wholly owned and controlled by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation.
ahi 14y ago
501(c)(3)s can be sold to for-profits. It's just a little complicated as an appropriate recipient for the purchase $$$ needs to be found among other things.

wamatt 14y ago

Interesting... Mozilla and Yahoo would make a good strategy, considering Google/Mozilla relationship has cooled in recent years. I like your Github/Meteor suggestion as well, albeit unlikely that either of those companies would take money or influence from Yahoo. Also don't think Marissa Mayer has the vision for these sort of changes, although hope I'm wrong on this.

shykes 14y ago
Yahoo already has a real-time javascript framework of its own: http://developer.yahoo.com/cocktails/mojito/ http://developer.yahoo.com/cocktails/mojito/
- wamatt 14y ago
  Yeah. The point was more about mindshare and not just tech. "X has an image problem." where X can be any tech from an uncool company, even if it is fundamentally decent.
  - shykes 14y ago
    I understand your point, but mindshare can be difficult to evaluate. Do you actually know how popular Mojito is? I certainly have noticed the popularity of Meteor - and unpopularity of Mojito - on HN, but how does that translate to the general population of developers?
    - wamatt 14y ago
      Indeed. Sentiment analysis is a problem. I think there are some companies working. It is a real phenomenon, but just hard to access empirical quantified data at the moment. As a quick measure I use things like Google Insights, compete.com, Github presence / stats etc.

drumdance 14y ago

This seems like a good strategy. I've long thought Google should buy Github (assuming they would sell).

gruseom 14y ago

Huh. You might be on to something there. "Champions of the open web" is a big niche that's empty right now, largely because of Google's failure to occupy it – an unforced error in my opinion. Yahoo under Marissa could seize that position. It could turn them from uncool to cool and win them a lot of good will among hackers very quickly. I'd be surprised but delighted if she did this.

streptomycin 14y ago

How is that supposed to make money?

nl 14y ago

Turn Google's strengths into weaknesses by opening up all of Yahoo's products (Search, Mail, Finance, Maps, Sports, News) to developers to be maximally programmable. This sounds great, in a handwavy way. In practice though I'd like to hear specifics about what Yahoo could/would offer that Google doesn't already? Search: https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview https://developers.google.com/custom-search/v1/overview Mail: https://developers.google.com/google-apps/gmail/ https://developers.google.com/google-apps/gmail/ Maps: Seriously? I'm not even going to bother linking to the Google Maps API Google doesn't have great developer stories in Finance, Sports or News. I guess there are some opportunities there, but exactly what they are isn't obvious. Anyway, isn't this whole strategy what Yahoo tried in the 2006-09 timeframe? It failed then (mostly by failing to bring in revenue) - why would it be different now?

mbell 14y ago
> Maps: Seriously? I'm not even going to bother linking to the Google Maps API There is a reason many have transitioned to OSM based data and tile hosting services: price. The Google Maps API is no longer the "no-brainer" that it once was among developers.
- jlarocco 14y ago
  Google charges the most for maps because they have the best service. And generally speaking, I don't think competing on price is a great strategy for turning the company around. The OSM map services will have a big price advantage because all of their data is free, even though it's not as good as Google's. And if Yahoo enhances the data, or gets their own data and tries to charge a premium, then they're back to where they are now trying to compete with Google... I'm not saying they can't make a better service for cheaper, but their focus should be on making a great map service, not on cutting the price.
- Evbn 14y ago
  Google drastically cut back on the price increase. It isn't so bad anymore.
ramanujan 14y ago

jlarocco 14y ago

I don't see the connection you're making with GitHub. Whatever it may be, I'd prefer if Yahoo stays away. I'm against it enough that I would move my paid GitHub account to BitBucket. I understand they're trying to change their reputation, but I still remember how they killed Delicious and see how they've let Flickr bit rot. Let them practice not killing the software they buy before they buy another service I use.

ramanujan 14y ago
Re: Github, it'd be pretty interesting to allow one click deploys from github.com to a Yahoo app or widget. Millions of engineers would also see the Yahoo logo all day long.
antidoh 14y ago
Yes, please. I used Delicious but never liked it, it was merely closest to what I wanted. Now I use pinboard, and I mostly like it. I actually like Firefox, so please, leave it alone.

patio11 14y ago

This would make a bunch of SEOs of my acquaintance absolutely giddy, because you could use e.g. Yahoo keyword data or the proprietary financial data which is just maddening to get one's hand on to create arbitrarily large data-heavy sites... to rank in Google.

w1ntermute 14y ago
The reason why that data isn't freely available probably has to do with the fact that it's proprietary.