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The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

economist.com

31–40 of 236 posts

Re: The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

#31
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Zuckerberg knows they need to create or acquire the next big thing to make it in the long Isn't that exactly what yahoo did?

Well! They are not just buying but improving it as well. Whatsapp and Instagram are the best example. Yahoo could not keep up the quality of any product that was acquired by them.

How is WhatsApp “improved” by reducing privacy and adding ads?

Re: The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

#32
post #14

From reading some of the stuff Yahoo put out back in their prime. I always got the sense that they thought they would never fall and were maybe a bit invincible. I think Zuckerberg and Facebook in general, are very aware that Facebook is on the decline, they need to diversify. That's why they bought Instagram and used it to flight Snap. That's why they spent such an insane amount on WhatsApp. Zuckerberg knows they ne…

>Zuckerberg knows they need to create or acquire the next big thing to make it in the long Isn't that exactly what yahoo did?

They turned down buying Google.

Zuck smartly buys his competitors.

Re: The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

#33
post #17

> A senior marketer for a large American bank says Facebook has made mistakes on measuring engagement, reach, views and other data for no fewer than 43 products. All of the mistakes, he notes, worked in the social-networking giant’s favour. “If these were true errors, wouldn’t you expect at least half to benefit marketers?” he asks. He expects to reduce how much his firm spends on Facebook and predicts that other mar…

Wait, Facebook has over 43 products? What are they?

I suspect they were talking about products for marketers.

Re: The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well! They are not just buying but improving it as well. Whatsapp and Instagram are the best example. Yahoo could not keep up the quality of any product that was acquired by them.

How is WhatsApp “improved” by reducing privacy and adding ads?

End to end encryption was added after the aquisition.

Re: The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

#35

From reading some of the stuff Yahoo put out back in their prime. I always got the sense that they thought they would never fall and were maybe a bit invincible. I think Zuckerberg and Facebook in general, are very aware that Facebook is on the decline, they need to diversify. That's why they bought Instagram and used it to flight Snap. That's why they spent such an insane amount on WhatsApp. Zuckerberg knows they ne…

Well tiktok is not for sale.

Re: The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

#36
post #17

> A senior marketer for a large American bank says Facebook has made mistakes on measuring engagement, reach, views and other data for no fewer than 43 products. All of the mistakes, he notes, worked in the social-networking giant’s favour. “If these were true errors, wouldn’t you expect at least half to benefit marketers?” he asks. He expects to reduce how much his firm spends on Facebook and predicts that other mar…

Wait, Facebook has over 43 products? What are they?

Facebook sells ads. Full width banner, half width banner, full width/half width combo pack special promotion, that would already be three different products in that business (these are not Facebook products, just simple examples of what can be called a "product"). On this level, it's easy to get to hundreds of "products" without even trying.

Re: The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

#37
post #9

Yahoo failed, in part, because its competitors were better. Being better than Facebook doesn't mean just replicating its technology, it means having a better social graph. That's a hard problem to solve.

The service Facebook provides through their website is awful. I have no reason to use it, and have tried repeatedly only to be beaten back by their incompetence and even apparent malice. So maybe their graph is the best, but what are they really doing with it?

Re: The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

#38

From reading some of the stuff Yahoo put out back in their prime. I always got the sense that they thought they would never fall and were maybe a bit invincible. I think Zuckerberg and Facebook in general, are very aware that Facebook is on the decline, they need to diversify. That's why they bought Instagram and used it to flight Snap. That's why they spent such an insane amount on WhatsApp. Zuckerberg knows they ne…

FB is a victim of their own success. "Everyone" has FB. Now some people grow out of it, use smaller apps to do what they used FB 99% of the time. The world moves fast, FB cannot change with each fad as money for the next qtr is on the line. They are buying new competitors but frankly they should not be allowed by the governments.

Re: The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

#39
post #32
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Zuckerberg knows they need to create or acquire the next big thing to make it in the long Isn't that exactly what yahoo did?

They turned down buying Google. Zuck smartly buys his competitors.

Yahoo bought plenty of other "next big things" Geocities, tumblr, flikr, viaweb, Broadcast.com, del.icio.us, zimbra, and hundreds of others besides.

It wasn't clear at the time Google would be any kind of success, you are looking at things with hindsight.

Re: The new Yahoo? Facebook should heed the lessons of internet history

#40
In all likelyhood this is a “submarine” article crafted by a PR firm like Definers for a hit job on Facebook: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18511963

There are plenty of short sellers who would benefit from FB’s plummeting stock. In reality, FB’s DAU/MAU are largely unchanged. The stories that young people “deleted Facebook” were downright falsehood. There is simply no viable competition for Facebook in market right now like what Yahoo had in terms of Google.

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