When it comes to Internet giants, there are many names that we’re all familiar with and probably use on a daily basis, but there are some names that have faded over time. These names include the likes of AOL, Bebo, MySpace and perhaps Yahoo, who is now set to become part of Verizon after Yahoo’s board has reportedly agreed to the $4.8 Billion bid from the US’ largest wireless network. This long saga of who will end up with the core Web assets of Yahoo is seemingly coming to an end, and Yahoo follows in the footsteps of AOL, which was sold to Verizon back in 2015 for $4.4 Billion.
There’s something of a tinge of irony to this story, as AOL’s then-CEO, Tim Armstrong, offered Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s current-CEO, a merger deal. This was rejected, but the company that Armstrong works for is purchasing Yahoo. Make no mistake about it, for Verizon this is all about the advertizing assets. Alongside AOL, this purchase of Yahoo, would give Verizon nearly 5% of the market, which seems insignificant until you realize that puts them in third place behind Facebook’s 17% and Google’s 36%. Just what will happen to the Yahoo brand as many know and love it is unclear, but it’s likely that the name “Yahoo” will begin to fade away, as Verizon absorb core assets and see what they can do with the remainder of the company’s assets. There is, of course, a chance that this gives Verizon a much stronger play online, in marketing their own presence and while it’s unlikely, there is chance of a “Verizon-Yahoo” revival in the future.
Yahoo itself isn’t being sold entirely to Verizon, this deal will comprise of just the Web assets of Yahoo, while their investments in Alibaba as well as Yahoo Japan, which reportedly total something around $40 Billion or so. For many however, the Yahoo name brings backs memories of the early web, and names like “Geocities” and “Yahoo Pool”, key parts of the online experience for many people that logged on back in the beginning of the Web we know today. It’s a shame to see a company go out like this, but that $4.8 Billion figure shows that there was always value in Yahoo, and while it might not be the one we know, part of it will live on to fight another day, albeit in more of a red hue than a purple one.