Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone discusses Yahoo turnaround and past Google deal

In short: Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone says the company is in a multi-step rebuild, and he points to Yahoo’s 2000 deal to use Google search as a major turning point.

What happened

Jim Lanzone has been CEO of Yahoo since September 2021. Yahoo became privately held again after it was acquired by Apollo Global Management from Verizon.

In a recent interview, Lanzone talked about why Yahoo struggled for years. He pointed to a decision made around June 2000, when Yahoo paid Google to power the search box on Yahoo’s website. He has described that deal as Yahoo’s “original sin,” meaning a mistake that led to many later problems.

Lanzone said Yahoo then spent years trying to figure out what it was for and how it could survive. Yahoo has gone through a long chain of mergers and spinouts, including a period when it was owned by Verizon.

He also described what he says is happening now inside the company. Lanzone called Yahoo’s recovery effort a “multi-phase” transformation, focused on building products and rebuilding teams. He said that in recent months, “every pixel on Yahoo is new,” which is his way of saying the site’s pages and features have been widely refreshed.

Why it matters

Yahoo is still a familiar name for email, news, sports, and finance. If its rebuild works, everyday users could see faster, cleaner, and more useful apps and websites. Lanzone’s comments also show how one business decision, like outsourcing a key feature (like renting instead of owning the engine in your car), can shape a company’s future for decades.

Source: The Verge AI