While Yahoo accepts their fate as a Verizon subsidiary, Verizon is busy telling the world exactly what they plan to do with the Internet company. After all, $4.8 Billion isn’t exactly chump change; no matter how rich you may be, you don’t simply lay out that kind of cash without a plan, and a very well thought out plan at that. According to a conference call today that accompanied their Q2 earnings report, that’s exactly what Verizon has for Yahoo. Their plan, essentially, is to leverage media holdings that Yahoo and AOL have to create a mobile video platform that will compete with the likes of Facebook and Google.
Alongside network expansion, 5G, and the Internet of Things, Verizon is placing a big bet on Yahoo and AOL, starting with this announcement. Competing with the likes of Facebook and Google in mobile video will be no easy task, but Verizon is confident that their Go90 platform, with help from staff and assets from Yahoo and AOL, will be able to at least compete, though taking dominating platforms like YouTube and Facebook Live is probably out of the question. AOL’s media empire include a few media giants like The Huffington Post, and a veritable host of video and advertising outfits. Yahoo, meanwhile, owns Flickr, Rivals.com and Tumblr, along with a large network of their own content and services.
According to Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam, the Yahoo and AOL acquisitions bring a lot to the table, but their potential for mobile video may be the most exciting. McAdams pointed to a widespread shift in the way users are accessing video content, and through what channels, and is convinced that Verizon can be a big player in the mobile video space, using media holdings and the assets of acquisitions by Yahoo and AOL prior to them being scooped up themselves. Between their own Go90 platform and the video outlets owned and curated by AOL and Yahoo, such as their sports offerings, Tumblr and The Huffington Post, it’s not hard to see Verizon making their way into the big leagues in the mobile video space sheerly by merit of volume and variety of their content.