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Yahoo Removes Registered Trademark (R) From Logo
- dm8 14y agoOn side note, she uses Instagram instead of Flickr. Looks like Flickr needs to step up. Would be fun to see if she says to Flickr team, "I won't use your app unless you improve it"
- spullara 14y agoSince the Flickr team didn't write it, I'm sure they would be glad to hear it.
- dm8 14y agoReally? Flickr didn't believe in native apps? Or they didn't have enough iOS devs? EDIT: Changed Yahoo to Flickr.
- spullara 14y agoNative apps were owned by the mobile group, not the individual teams. And they didn't get have the people to do it. I'm sure Marissa will rectify it.
- dm8 14y agoWow! This is news to me. Even mobile group didn't have people to do it. When every goddamn investor was pumping money into photo sharing apps. Flickr had the most popular photo-sharing app till 2008 and they missed the mobile tidal wave!
- spullara 14y agoThey may have missed the tidal wave, but I was posting mobile photos on Flickr in 2005 :( http://www.flickr.com/photos/spullara/2904629/in/photostream/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/spullara/2904629/in/photostream...
- damncabbage 14y agoThis is the best telling of the history I've read so far: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1845592 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1845592
- eric_bullington 14y agoThey could start by releasing a proper RESTful API: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2206188/why-isnt-the-flickr-api-restful http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2206188/why-isnt-the-flic... Also, using valid JSON for in their API would be a nice touch: http://www.flickr.com/groups/api/discuss/72157622950514923/ http://www.flickr.com/groups/api/discuss/72157622950514923/ *Note that both of these posts are over two years old, and yet these problems persist even now.
- lquist 14y agoGood to see that there is real structural change afoot at Yahoo. </sarcasm>
- anigbrowl 14y agoMany a true word is said in jest.
- alid 14y agoIn a company of Yahoo's size and complexity structural change will always take a while to implement. They're no doubt revising everything from structure to value proposition and brand. I'm personally impressed at the changes implemented thus far - some visible quick wins and more importantly a focus on reinvigorating their culture.
- fleitz 14y agoMaybe they should stop focusing on value prop and brand. Instead focusing on services decent enough that you can host an image of your logo instead of having to ask Facebook.
- alid 14y agoI don't think they're mutually exclusive - in the sense that they're not focusing on value prop at the expense of services. (Just speculating here - I don't work for Yahoo, but have a background in corporate strategy). There's obviously a lot of fixes to be made and synergies to be found, but to achieve change of this magnitude first and foremost you need to reinvigorate culture - so I believe they're setting positive foundations.
- connortomas 14y agoI don't think it's one or the other. Removing the trademark from these logos is low-hanging fruit - an easy way for Marissa to signal that deeper change is afoot, and to assure employees that she "gets it".
- 14y ago
- glhaynes 14y agoNow ditch the exclamation point so you don't have to say "Yahoo!s."
- sixothree 14y agoShouldn't it be Yahoo!'s anyway?
- evincarofautumn 14y agoOnly if it’s possessive; apostrophes aren’t for plurals. They refer to their employees as Yahoo!s, which I guess is supposed to be pronounced with an alveolar click.
- mistercow 14y agoThat's not strictly true. It is partially a matter of editorial style, and many standards have exceptions where apostrophes are used to form plurals. For example almost everyone agrees that single letters are pluralized with an apostrophe. It is somewhat less common to prescribe an apostrophe in the case of a number either. When this is not allowed, an exception is sometimes made for pluralizing the number zero so that it is not mistaken for the letter O. It is fairly common to pluralize period-less abbreviations with apostrophes. The New York Times, for example, follows that standard. It is more common still for abbreviations with periods to take an apostrophe. So basically, no. You don't get to just say "this is the rule for apostrophes in all cases" because that's not how the written word works. We (or the publication we are writing for) can choose our own editorial style, and screw anyone who doesn't like it (although you should be consistent, of course). But interestingly enough, this is one situation where there can be a universally correct answer: a trademark. If Yahoo! puts out guidelines for how they would like their trademark pluralized, and they say it should be "Yahoo!s", then that is what everyone should use. If they say it should be "Yahoo!'s", then that's what everyone should use, even if it violates their usual rules.
- Camillo 14y ago
- nathantone 14y agoawesome, next up the "!"
- tamersalama 14y agoHer informal management style and potential empowerment of the new 'Yahoo!s' is impressive. I can't think of a setup where a new hire would go around the campus taking off all the Rs without her encouragement.
- dmor 14y agoWhere can I buy ALL of these for Referly?
- hrktb 14y agoIt's so confusing to have a ceo mention a company related matter on it's personal space on a rival service.
- connortomas 14y agoReally? https://twitter.com/instagram https://twitter.com/instagram https://twitter.com/facebook https://twitter.com/facebook http://www.facebook.com/yahoo http://www.facebook.com/yahoo https://twitter.com/yahoo https://twitter.com/yahoo Etc. Keep in mind that if Marissa had posted this to Flickr, we wouldn't even be discussing this. The last thing you want from a CEO at Yahoo! is for them to suffer from the head-in-the-sand delusion that Yahoo's services "are" the internet.
- gergles 14y agoI find it completely hilarious that Marissa is not dogfooding. I know that someone else said this earlier in the thread, but why is this on Instagram and not flickr? Come on, at least use your own damn product. The correct answer to the objection of "but Instagram is better right now" is "I'm going to revitalize this product by using it for my own photos and commentary, even if it sucks right now." You don't want the CEO of a company giving mindshare to a competitor!
- EthanEtienne 14y agoErrr, dude, do you work for Microsoft? This is what got them into trouble in the first place, believing their own B.S. Sorry about the M$ slam, but damn, I keep hearing this over and over again, and it's so damn wrong (IMHO).
- EthanEtienne 14y agoOMG, sorry I have a hard time telling when people are being sarcastic, haha good one!!!!
- whatusername 14y agoThe counter-example is Steve Jobs: http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2209 http://www.nextcomputers.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=2209 (who used a Thinkpad for perhaps 12-18 months after returning to apple)
- fullmoon 14y agoRunning NextStep
- sprobertson 14y agoAfter which he promptly brought new life to the Powerbook series. So when will Flickr be releasing a working mobile app?
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jordaninternets 14y agoA subtle change that means a lot.
- alid 14y agoI agree. There's a tangible sense of renewal at Yahoo - they've been stagnant for so long, it's refreshing to see them challenging the status quo and revitalising their culture.
- iamrohitbanga 14y agoAgree ... they might want to use the logo as a branding vehicle for people to promote the popularity of Yahoo!
- revelation 14y agoIs there a reason this page is completely devoid of any interactivity? I wanted to view further pictures she might have shared, but clicking her name just brings up pointless statistics (number of photos and followers). Same deal with the comment section. It's like someone pulled a copy of the page and removed all the hyperlinks.
- kanamekun 14y agoThis is definitely being done for a reason. One of the best ways to increase user clicks on a particular link is to remove all the other links on a page. This case is a bit extreme: Instagram has removed most links not only for mobile web browsers, but also for desktop users. That said, the reason for removing it from desktop browsers may also extend to privacy: I personally really like it that it's not easy to find links to my Instagram posts. Privacy through obfuscation, I suppose. In any case, Instagram's web presence really encourages users to download the app. That's smart, as that's where Facebook is the weakest... so Instagram was able to focus its (very) limited resources in the one place where it could really shine.
- jmj4 14y agoI believe instagrams web app is designed this way. Meaning they don't really have a web app.
- untog 14y agoI believe it is deliberate. Why, I'm not sure. To ensure that you use the Instagram app, I suppose.
- 001sky 14y agoTry this: http://web.stagram.com/n/marissamayer/ http://web.stagram.com/n/marissamayer/
- citricsquid 14y agoit's dumb, there's quite a few instagram websites now: http://statigr.am/marissamayer http://statigr.am/marissamayer
- uses 14y ago
- kevinh 14y agoSeeing all of the (TM)s and (R)s has always annoyed me. When I look at it I always feel an undercurrent that it represents everything stereotypically oppressive about a corporation. Is there some legal reason for placing them up there (requirement to protect the trademark in this way, a CYA, or some other reason), or are they just up there for show?
- dotdapple 14y agoFrom http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/BasicFacts_with_correct_links.pdf http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/BasicFacts_with_corre...: Owning a federal trademark registration provides a number of advantages, including... the ability to use the federal registration symbol. Much like the copyright symbol, unnecessary.
- gavinballard 14y agoIf a trademark is challenged, it's often useful/necessary for a party to be able to show that they've been using the mark as a trademark in the past. Slapping TM all over your branding is one way to unambiguously meet that requirement. That said, in almost all of the cases where a large organisation is using it with a well-known brand, it's more of a CYA than anything else.
- gfodor 14y agoand here is the opposite effect, the new windows 8 logo: http://i50.tinypic.com/15oidfb.jpg http://i50.tinypic.com/15oidfb.jpg A clean, simple, elegant logo, completely ruined by the honking TM and (R) injected by the lawyers. The bizarre presence of two separate legalese-related sigils on a single logo makes it impossible to miss. Also makes it clear who is running the place.
- 001sky 14y agoHow does apple get away without this? Curious if anyone knows
- pixie_ 14y agofear
- pixie_ 14y agowow downvotes. let me elaborate. if you use apple's IP, they will sue you out of existence.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- kingkawn 14y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Corps_v_Apple_Computer maybe they couldn't for a while?
- Steko 14y agohttp://www.logodesignlove.com/trademark-symbols http://www.logodesignlove.com/trademark-symbols
- anigbrowl 14y agoVery small type at the bottom of their ads. Despite what people think, you are not required to stick a trademark sigil right next to your mark. I have been having this argument with people for nearly 20 years, and don't blame the lawyers so much as the managers who won't take the time and effort to actually think about what the lawyers are telling them.
- tomflack 14y agoInteresting for me is the regional Yahoo (au.yahoo.com) is destined to receive zero benefit from Marissa's reign. One thing I like about Google is they do have regional variants, but they're all pretty much the same. Yahoo varies WIDELY with all the weird partnership deals they have struck with local companies over the years.
- mpclark 14y agoIt wasn't the "(R)" that needed removing, it was the "!".
- capkutay 14y agoI judge a CEO by what he or she instagrams about the company and how the employees contribute their 2 cents to the company logo. Ok, excuse the sarcasm. But I don't see what this tells us about Yahoo! or Meyers performance as a CEO. I'd like to hear more about how she's managing Yahoo!, augmenting its products and services, and above all how that this performance translates to better earnings.
- sp332 14y agoThis is part of her continuing campaign to remove bureaucracy from the corporation. This is a dramatic, symbolic image.
- eliaskg 14y agoThere is still one on the front page: http://f.cl.ly/items/0z0V110Z0g2b1U0o2A2M/r.png http://f.cl.ly/items/0z0V110Z0g2b1U0o2A2M/r.png
- smountcastle 14y agoExcellent! I'd love to see more companies follow suit. I have a bunch of 'logowear' and it annoys me greatly when a company puts TM or R after its logo on shirts, hats, jackets, etc. It seems absurd to me to need to protect their mark so vigorously on clothing when it's a tech company -- I don't mind seeing TM/R in advertisements, on their website, etc. but don't place it on clothing!
- JagMicker 14y agoCopyright and trademark are just tools to be used by those who can. Case in point --- Apple uses any music they want in their TV commercials and never pays to license it. Apparently, in their opinion, the artist deserves nothing more than the opportunity to benefit from increased exposure. I suppose that's why they pick more obscure music (CSS). Another interesting point is that, for some time now, movie distributors have used the FBI seal without licensing it. But that seal sure makes the video piracy warning look official! http://www.sonnyboo.com/images/tips/FBI.jpg http://www.sonnyboo.com/images/tips/FBI.jpg
- duked 14y agoSeriously, I'm tired of seeing her name in the press for no valuable reasons: no assigned parking, iphone for all employee, open space, now the (r) removed from the logo. Come on all of these changes are ok but not worth all the press. Let me know when she actually change the group strategy or announces new products !