The 12 Most Important Moments in Yahoo's History (So Far)
Back in the day, everyone knew about Yahoo. We used its search engine to find things online, we used it’s webmail to send and receive emails, we used its messenger to stay in touch with others.
Yahoo’s popularity has diminished over time. People haven’t forgotten about it, but they’ve surely stopped using its services. More often than not, when I bring up Yahoo in a conversation, I get asked “do you still use Yahoo?"
Yahoo has had a long and sometimes troubled history, with these moments standing out above others.
1. Jerry Yang and David Filo create Yahoo
In January 1994, Stanford University electrical engineering graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo create a website called "Jerry and David's guide to the World Wide Web."
In March 1994, the website is renamed Yahoo, which stands for "Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle."
2. The Yahoo.com domain appears online
On January 18, 1995, the Yahoo.com domain was created.
And on March 2, 1995, the company was incorporated.
3. Everyone uses Yahoo's web portal
Lots of web directories and search engines saw rapid growth in the 1990s, Yahoo included. By 1998, Yahoo hit 100 million page views per day, making it the web’s most popular portal.
4. Yahoo shares hit an all-time high
Yahoo went public on April 12, 1996 and right from the start, its share prices saw incredible growth – $154% in the first day alone.
But it would take until 2000 for Yahoo’s shares to hit an all-time high. On January 3, 200, during the dot-com bubble, Yahoo stocks were $118.75 per share. But in September 2001, after the dot-com bubble burst, they fell to a low $8.11.
5. Yahoo starts using its own search engine
From 2000 until 2004, Yahoo’s search results were powered by Google. Yahoo didn’t do the actual web crawling and data housing a search engine required, Google did. Yahoo’s agreement with Google ended in 2004, when Yahoo started using its own search technologies.
6. Yahoo acquires Flickr
On March 20, 2005, Yahoo acquired Ludicorp, the company that created Flickr. The terms of the acquisition were never disclosed. Yahoo reportedly paid $22 to $25 million for Flickr.
In 2007, Yahoo shut down Yahoo Photos and encouraged users to migrate to Flickr.
7. Microsoft offers to buy Yahoo
On February 1, 2008, Microsoft made an unsolicited bid to acquire Yahoo. The surprising bit wasn’t that Microsoft wanted to buy Yahoo, the surprising bit was that Microsoft offered a staggering $44.6 billion.
Yahoo declined the offer.
8. New CEO strikes search deal with Microsoft
In January 2009, Jerry Yang was replaced by Carol Bartz, who would serve as the company’s CEO until 2011, when she was fired over the phone.
And in July 2009, under Bartz's leadership, Yahoo struck a deal with Microsoft. The deal stated that Yahoo! Search would be powered by Microsoft’s Bing for the coming 10 years. Yahoo reserved the right to terminate this arrangement if Microsoft failed to beat Google.
9. Marrisa Mayer ends all the CEO shuffling
Marissa Mayer, VP of Search Products & User Experiences with Google, leaves Google to become Yahoo’s new CEO in July 2012
It’s worth noting that Marissa Mayer was Yahoo!’s fifth CEO in five years. Mayer put a stop to Yahoo’s CEO shuffling.
10. Yahoo acquires Tumblr, intros new logo
In June 2013, Yahoo acquired Tumblr. Yahoo spent $1.1 billion in cash to acquire the micro-blogging and social networking site.
In September 2013, Yahoo introduced a revamped logo. The first new logo in 18 years, the first new logo since the company was founded.
11. Mozilla picks Yahoo Search for Firefox (just in the US)
In November 2014, Mozilla decided to adopt a new search strategy and dropped Google as the default search engine for its Firefox web browser.
In the US, Google Search was replaced with Yahoo Search. In Russia, Google was replaced by Yandex. And in China, it was replaced by Baidu.
12. Yahoo sells its core business to Verizon
In July 2016, after years of financial troubles, Yahoo announced that it’s going to sell its core business to Verizon for $4.83 billion in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 of 2017. Once it does, Yahoo will be integrated with AOL, which Verizon acquired in 2015.
"The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising," said Lowell McAdam, Verizon Chairman and CEO.
Yahoo’s popularity has diminished over time. People haven’t forgotten about it, but they’ve surely stopped using its services. More often than not, when I bring up Yahoo in a conversation, I get asked “do you still use Yahoo?"
Yahoo has had a long and sometimes troubled history, with these moments standing out above others.
1. Jerry Yang and David Filo create Yahoo
In January 1994, Stanford University electrical engineering graduate students Jerry Yang and David Filo create a website called "Jerry and David's guide to the World Wide Web."
In March 1994, the website is renamed Yahoo, which stands for "Yet Another Hierarchically Organized Oracle."
2. The Yahoo.com domain appears online
On January 18, 1995, the Yahoo.com domain was created.
And on March 2, 1995, the company was incorporated.
3. Everyone uses Yahoo's web portal
Lots of web directories and search engines saw rapid growth in the 1990s, Yahoo included. By 1998, Yahoo hit 100 million page views per day, making it the web’s most popular portal.
4. Yahoo shares hit an all-time high
Yahoo went public on April 12, 1996 and right from the start, its share prices saw incredible growth – $154% in the first day alone.
But it would take until 2000 for Yahoo’s shares to hit an all-time high. On January 3, 200, during the dot-com bubble, Yahoo stocks were $118.75 per share. But in September 2001, after the dot-com bubble burst, they fell to a low $8.11.
5. Yahoo starts using its own search engine
From 2000 until 2004, Yahoo’s search results were powered by Google. Yahoo didn’t do the actual web crawling and data housing a search engine required, Google did. Yahoo’s agreement with Google ended in 2004, when Yahoo started using its own search technologies.
6. Yahoo acquires Flickr
On March 20, 2005, Yahoo acquired Ludicorp, the company that created Flickr. The terms of the acquisition were never disclosed. Yahoo reportedly paid $22 to $25 million for Flickr.
In 2007, Yahoo shut down Yahoo Photos and encouraged users to migrate to Flickr.
7. Microsoft offers to buy Yahoo
On February 1, 2008, Microsoft made an unsolicited bid to acquire Yahoo. The surprising bit wasn’t that Microsoft wanted to buy Yahoo, the surprising bit was that Microsoft offered a staggering $44.6 billion.
Yahoo declined the offer.
8. New CEO strikes search deal with Microsoft
In January 2009, Jerry Yang was replaced by Carol Bartz, who would serve as the company’s CEO until 2011, when she was fired over the phone.
And in July 2009, under Bartz's leadership, Yahoo struck a deal with Microsoft. The deal stated that Yahoo! Search would be powered by Microsoft’s Bing for the coming 10 years. Yahoo reserved the right to terminate this arrangement if Microsoft failed to beat Google.
9. Marrisa Mayer ends all the CEO shuffling
Marissa Mayer, VP of Search Products & User Experiences with Google, leaves Google to become Yahoo’s new CEO in July 2012
It’s worth noting that Marissa Mayer was Yahoo!’s fifth CEO in five years. Mayer put a stop to Yahoo’s CEO shuffling.
10. Yahoo acquires Tumblr, intros new logo
In June 2013, Yahoo acquired Tumblr. Yahoo spent $1.1 billion in cash to acquire the micro-blogging and social networking site.
In September 2013, Yahoo introduced a revamped logo. The first new logo in 18 years, the first new logo since the company was founded.
11. Mozilla picks Yahoo Search for Firefox (just in the US)
In November 2014, Mozilla decided to adopt a new search strategy and dropped Google as the default search engine for its Firefox web browser.
In the US, Google Search was replaced with Yahoo Search. In Russia, Google was replaced by Yandex. And in China, it was replaced by Baidu.
12. Yahoo sells its core business to Verizon
In July 2016, after years of financial troubles, Yahoo announced that it’s going to sell its core business to Verizon for $4.83 billion in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 of 2017. Once it does, Yahoo will be integrated with AOL, which Verizon acquired in 2015.
"The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company, and help accelerate our revenue stream in digital advertising," said Lowell McAdam, Verizon Chairman and CEO.
