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TECHNOLOGY Friday 9 June 2017

Verizon’s first move with Yahoo is to ditch 2,100 jobs

TALI ARBEL participate.
AP Technology Writer Yahoo and AOL are “posi-
NEW YORK (AP) — About tioned to do better togeth-
2,100 jobs are on the chop- er than apart,” Pivotal Re-
ping block as Verizon pre- search Group analyst Brian
pares to combine Yahoo Wieser said.
and AOL for a digital ad- But he is setting the bar
vertising offensive. low. While Verizon talks of
Yahoo’s shareholders on growth from the deal, Wi-
Thursday approved the eser said “not declining
$4.5 billion sale of its key would be a success. Five
businesses to Verizon. The years from now, if the com-
deal is expected to close bined entity were the same
by Tuesday. AOL and Ya- size as it is today, I would
hoo will cut 15 percent of consider that to be suc-
the 14,000 workers they cessful.”
now employ, or about THE VISION
2,100 jobs, said a person fa- Verizon sees online ads —
miliar with the matter who particularly targeted ads —
requested not to be identi- as a potential new source
fied discussing the cuts. of growth as the wireless
USING YAHOO industry fights for U.S. us-
Verizon has a simple goal in ers with lower prices and
buying Yahoo’s core busi- other discounts. Verizon
ness: It wants to challenge has “essentially turned into
Google and Facebook a no-growth business,” said
in the huge and lucrative CFRA Research’s Angelo
field of digital advertising. Zino. The ad business would
But Verizon faces its own be a “big deal” for Verizon
challenge in doing so, giv- if it goes well, he said.
en that it will be compet- Tim Armstrong, the for-
ing against a slew of other mer Google executive This Monday, July 25, 2016, file photo shows the Verizon and Yahoo logos on a laptop, in North
companies also looking to who joined AOL as CEO in Andover, Mass.
break in. 2009, has for years wanted Associated Press
Verizon wants to become to combine AOL with the
a strong third choice for long-declining Yahoo. Al-
advertisers by adding Ya- though AOL has big-name from roughly $7 billion to- Google hold for advertisers ad business that supports its
hoo’s popular sites and bil- properties such as HuffPost day. isn’t expected to change e-commerce dominance.
lion users worldwide to its and Engadget, it hasn’t Lowell McAdam, CEO of in the next few years. They Microsoft, which owns
own media business, which been as big of an online New York-based Verizon, had a head start on mo- LinkedIn, is expected to
includes AOL and Verizon’s destination as Yahoo’s teased last month that this bile. Yahoo has poured bil- grow its piece of the ad pie;
home-grown go90 video mail, finance, sports and could set the stage for a lions into acquisitions that Microsoft will be just behind
service. It can place ads other properties. new streaming video ser- have helped Yahoo make the combined AOL-Yahoo
on those sites, and can also The combined business, vice, competing with the some leeway in mobile — in the U.S. once the deal
combine data from visitors to be called Oath, will ex- slew of internet-TV services but not enough. It’s gotten closes. Twitter, although it’s
to those sites with AOL’s pand its news, sports, enter- already out there. Verizon better at doing mobile ads, sorting out its ad business, is
ad technologies and sales tainment, finance and life- already has a free mobile but it has had no major hit a significant smaller player.
teams, and possibly also style coverage. Like every- video service, go90, that apps. Globally, several Chinese
personal data from Verizon one else, Oath will focus on isn’t well known. Still, AOL and Yahoo to- companies also rake in ad
mobile customers such as video and mobile, where ALTERNATIVES TO THE DUO- gether provide a much- dollars.
location and other infor- consumers increasingly POLY smaller No. 3 in the U.S. for And the combined com-
mation, in order to better spend their time online. Facebook and Google to- advertisers looking to reach pany will also have to com-
target ads at individuals. Armstrong says he wants gether draw about half the lots of people. But even if pete for people’s atten-
Verizon has programs that Oath properties to be a world’s spending on digital Verizon’s goal is to just be tion, and not just with other
use mobile-customer data place consumers “come ads, and in the U.S., they’re happy at No. 3, there are services that rely on ad
for targeted ads and may and visit every day” and even more dominant. several much smaller play- dollars to survive. Popular
combine that with data predicts users growing to They’re also where the ma- ers that also draw advertis- sites like Amazon or Netflix
gathered by AOL and Ya- 2 billion from 1.3 billion by jority of mobile-ad dollars ers.Snapchat is a niche hit also suck up time spent on-
hoo. Verizon says custom- 2020, with annual revenue go, eMarketer data show. with young people. Ama- line, said eMarketer analyst
ers can choose whether to of $10 billion to $20 billion The sway Facebook and zon has an under-the-radar Martin Utreras.q