Yahoo!

About Yahoo!

Yahoo is one of the first search engines although it didn't quite start out that way. Back in the day 1994 - 1995-ish, Yahoo! was simply a directory of web sites. Back then they didn't even charge for inclusion in their directory but as the internet bubble grew they became a yellow pages of sorts for the internet. But then the directory grew so big so fast that they had to create another way of finding web sites online and thus they launched Yahoo! Search Engine.

A lot has happened since then but Yahoo! is still a pretty good search engine although they're more of a portal these days. They have a much more diversified business model and revenue stream than Google but don't get near as much play in the stock market.

I've been to Yahoo's campus in the Valley a couple of times and must say that if you can get past the LA Lakers flashbacks of purple and yellow everywhere, then you'll probably really enjoy it.

Taken from Yahoo's corporate site, not our own words.
We face big challenges each and every day. But not only do we work hard, we play hard and don’t take ourselves too seriously. It’s the Yahoo! way. Since our humble history, we have grown to become the world’s most essential Internet service—for consumers and businesses. And when we aren’t changing the course of the Internet, we’re busy celebrating each others’ successes and letting it all hang out at Yahoo! events.

Yahoo Values

Excellence:
We are committed to winning with integrity. We know leadership is hard won and should never be taken for granted. We aspire to flawless execution and don’t take shortcuts on quality. We seek the best talent and promote its development. We are flexible and learn from our mistakes.

Teamwork:
We treat one another with respect and communicate openly. We foster collaboration while maintaining individual accountability. We encourage the best ideas to surface from anywhere within the organization. We appreciate the value of multiple perspectives and diverse expertise.

Innovation:
We thrive on creativity and ingenuity. We seek the innovations and ideas that can change the world. We anticipate market trends and move quickly to embrace them. We are not afraid to take informed, responsible risk.

Community:
We share an infectious sense of mission to make an impact on society and empower consumers in ways never before possible. We are committed to serving both the Internet community and our own communities.

Customer Fixation:
We respect our customers above all else and never forget that they come to us by choice. We share a personal responsibility to maintain our customers’ loyalty and trust. We listen and respond to our customers and seek to exceed their expectations.

Fun:
We believe humor is essential to success. We applaud irreverence and don’t take ourselves too seriously. We celebrate achievement. We yodel

Yahoo! History

What started as a student hobby has evolved into a global brand that's changed the way people communicate with each other and access, share and create information.

From campus trailer to global trailblazer
The two founders of Yahoo!, David Filo and Jerry Yang, were Ph.D. candidates in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University when they began building their guide to the web in February 1994 as a way to keep track of their personal interests on the Internet. Before long, they were spending more time on their home-brewed lists of favorite links than on their doctoral dissertations. Eventually Jerry and David's lists became too long and unwieldy, so they broke them out into categories. When the categories became too full, they developed subcategories—and the core concept behind Yahoo! was born.

Jerry and David soon found that they weren't alone in wanting a single place to find useful websites. Soon hundreds of people were accessing their guide from well beyond their Stanford trailer. Word spread from friends to what quickly became a significant, loyal audience throughout the closely knit Internet community. Yahoo! celebrated its first million-hit day in the fall of 1994, translating to almost 100,000 unique visitors.

What's in a name, anyway?
The site started out as "Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web," but received a new moniker with the help of a dictionary. The name Yahoo! is an acronym for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle," but Jerry and David insist they selected it because they liked the general definition of a yahoo: "rude, unsophisticated, uncouth."

Up next: Web 2.0 and beyond
From these humble beginnings, Yahoo! has grown into the world's most essential Internet service for consumers and businesses. A leading provider of comprehensive online products and services worldwide, Yahoo! is the number one Internet brand and the most trafficked online destination. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Yahoo!'s global network includes 25 world properties and is available in 13 languages.

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