Marketing Pilgrim

Yahoo CEO Terry Semel and acting CFO Susan Decker say that last year was devoted to fixing their paid search services. This year will be Panama’s time to shine. Or maybe next year. Makes me think of a euphemism I heard in my brief stint in the corporate world, the “push to cash positive.” (Except Yahoo’s been cash positive all along.)

They attribute their impending success to Panama, specifically its improved relevance. Yahoo’s stock has increased 20% this year as positive reports on Panama have flowed in. Their stock is actually performing better than Google’s right now. However, Decker states that the switch to Panama won’t affect profits until Q2.

It’s not overly optimistic, but it’s a lot better than what she was saying last year. You remember:

“We don’t think it’s reasonable to assume we’re going to gain a lot of share from Google,” Chief Financial Officer Susan Decker said in an interview. “It’s not our goal to be No. 1 in Internet search. We would be very happy to maintain our market share.”

Yahoo retracted that statement, and now they finally seem to be putting their money where their mouth is.

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