SWOT Analysis Yahoo

SWOT Analysis Yahoo!
Strengths.
• Yahoo!'s Overture is a tremendously profitable Internet advertising business. It
focuses on affiliate advertising for large advertising accounts, in the same way as
Google's Adsense programme. This is an important income stream for Yahoo!.
• Yahoo! has over 350 million users of its services and solutions. This makes it a very
powerful marketing company, with a very well known brand. Some reports indicate
that is it is the most popular website in the World.
• A key long-term strength is Yahoo!'s international business presence. As the
Internet expands and it is adopted by more nations the opportunities for Internet
brands begin to emerge. Yahoo! is well placed to take advantage of these
opportunities with its strategic business units in Asia, Europe and Australia.
• The Yahoo! Directory is an original source of structured information. It has built
over the last decade, and unlike mainstream search engines, its content is moderated
(i.e. sites are vetted before their inclusion).
Weaknesses.
• Differentiation is difficult for Yahoo!. Almost all of its packaged services are
available from other sources.
1. (i)Search facilities are available on MSN and Google.
2. (ii)Free E-mail accounts are available from Hotmail (MSN) or G-Mail
(Google), and many, many others.
3. (iii)New is available from CNN or the BBC.
4. (iv)Shopping is available everywhere on the Internet. Google has
Froogle.
• Online advertising is a new income stream for organizations such as MSN, Yahoo!
and Goggle. Yes, today they are very, very profitable. However, as technology
develops and new unforeseen advertising media emerge, the future is uncertain for
these income streams. This is a weakness for Yahoo! and its competitors.
• Another income stream that has been key to Yahoo! is derived from its partnerships
with telecommunication providers. For example, you buy an Internet connection
package from your local telephone company, and it includes a fee-based Yahoo!

package including e-mail accounts, user support and other added value services. If
ever this channel is changed or removed, the income stream would be affected.
Opportunities
• The international market is a huge opportunity for Yahoo!. Yahoo!, Microsoft and
Google are busy carving niches and taking over businesses in are around the Greater
China Region. China has over 1,200,000,000 citizens. Other economies, such as India,
also offer tremendous growth potential.
• The Development of the Yahoo! Directory has potential for new business and
income streams. Two thirds of organizations in Ohmae's Triad (Europe, Japan and the
USA) are Small Medium Enterprises (SME'). SME's are potential directory advertisers.
• Mobile technologies offer another opportunity for Yahoo!. Today we access the
Internet using personal computers. Tomorrow phones, televisions, personal
organisers, music players and computers will merge and morph. The mobile devices of
the future will need services and solutions. Yahoo! would be well placed to provide
many of them.
Threats.
• The biggest threat for all web-based organization is competition. Huge profits
attract investors, innovators and entrepreneurs. Dotcom fever has not gone away, it is
now more focused on profit delivery. All of Yahoo!'s key services have competitors
such as AOL, Google and many others.
• International, culture specific competitors could affect Yahoo! in the future, unless
strategic alliances are forged. China has developed its own search engines, as has
India. Why should the World use USA based companies such as Yahoo!? There needs
to be a series of substantial competitive advantages to see the business remain as an
international brand. Look at what has been learned from the global car industry, or
electronics industry.