Facebook is new--not so Yahoo
Facebook is purportedly in talks with Yahoo to sell out. Asking price: $900 million...minimum. When Viacom had previously offered $750 million, Mr. Zuckerberg, the CEO asked for $2 billion.
He is 22 years old.
Yahoo is trying to fix their brand. They have slipped from pretentious to insignificant in recent months and are obviously feeling the pain. Yahoo is not a brand that that the younger generation relates to, other than the completely free services like hotmail that they offer and are abused by pretty much everybody. On the other hand, putting up a sign outside a store inviting shoppers to take what they want for free will generate a crowd, but is only interpreted as financially sound by the ignorant and the paid (financial reporters, example).
Yahoo lives in ad revenue as does Facebook. When they become less interesting, then their ad revenue will slip (It already has)).
Facebook has the potential to be the next Yahoo. Yahoo has the potential to be the old Facebook. In many ways, they are trying to do the same thing--facilitate human interaction. I hope Mr. Zuckerberg sticks to his guns and goes it alone a while longer.
Posted on September 22, 2006