The “Hail Mary” Pass is the name for one of football’s “do-or-die” plays when the clock is running out and the ball is hurled deep into the end zone on a wing and a prayer your team will come up with the leather and win it all on the last play and the last second of the game.
Last week, Yahoo put up the equivalent of the “Hail Mary” play with a “Hail Marissa” pass. Get the ball to Marissa Mayer, the “Ms. Google and Ms. Search” if ever there was one, and see if we can put some winning points on the scoreboard.
One of the all-time, all-star insiders in the Googleverse, Marissa has conceived and implemented countless search features within Google Search, took over and transformed Google Local, even welcomed Lady Gaga (whose Little Monsters’ Social Network also went live last week) as Google host ambassador of pop culture. To keep the football metaphor alive, it is Mayer who practically has the Google playbook memorized.
What’s more, Marissa is not only pregnant with ideas, she is pregnant with a baby boy! Will she had an exclamation point to her new son’s name? The child’s “college fund” is a lock. Mayer will be paid around $71 million dollars over seven years (if the money doesn’t run out before then). For Yahoo, it’s all on the line. Say your ten “Hail Marys,” or “Hail Marissas,” and pray hard!
What is curious about the talent win is that Yahoo has been pulling away from Search for some time, first veering into the portal biz, and then into show biz, then display advertising, and NOT into Search tech or Web services. Search tech-knowledgy and its “related” product mix is clearly Mayer’s strength, but that job is now being largely being performed by Microsoft’s Bing-bots. What exactly were they thinking Marissa could do for them besides turn heads and getting some swagger back? Or was turning heads the main point to begin with?
From our purview, the most “pivotal” implication in the Mayer appointment is the relationship of the new Yahoo! CEO with Yahoo’s current search partner in Redmond.
And speaking of “quarterbacks,” Microsoft wishes it could get its last “fiscal quarter” back. For the first time in its history as a public company, Microsoft posted a loss for the quarter, a write-down attributable not only to the Aquantive agency misfire but to the investment it has made in attempting to unseed Google in Search. And that investment is putting only nominal points on the scoreboard.
The “bottom line” is that Yahoo is earning so little under its search deal with Microsoft that Microsoft is having to make up the difference due to a revenue guarantee. If the performance doesn’t improve, Yahoo has the option to go looking for a new partner. Would that include Google? Or would Marissa be content to let Google squirm as she allies powers like Facebook, Apple and Microsoft against her former employer.
New CEO Larry Page snubbed Mayer when he failed to appoint her to his starting five of the quintessential managers who would run Google’s main operating groups. On that basis, Yahoo and Microsoft could become fast friends.
On the downside, however, according to Yahoo CFO Tim Morse on last week’s Earnings Call, Marissa’s “first day, “This quarter, we’re not able to report significant progress by Microsoft on their effort to close the gap in marketplace RPS, but we are actively working with them to improve those results, as well as to achieve more consistent progress in closing the RPS gap in the future.
All of the above means that Yahoo may be able to “take its marbles and go home.” And yet, the Yahooligans can’t simply walk away from Microsoft without finding another partner. There is a serious a shortage of choices. There’s no one left in the US with the proven ability to deliver search queries at the volume Yahoo would demand.
This leads to another bit of fun speculation, according to Danny Sullivan. What if Marissa pitches that Microsoft should sell Bing to Yahoo? Or perhaps, Bing’s search talent and technology? What if Yahoo decides to reassume all the search technology and ad operations, promising that Microsoft can have its own search engine without all those pesky costs, just as Microsoft once promised Yahoo?
The pundit’s wager is on some very hardheaded negotiating between Redmond and Sunnyvale. That could be right up Steve Ballmer’s alley.
Here is Marissa Mayer’s First Memo to Yahoo! employees since becoming Yahoo! CEO:
Privileged and confidential — Do not forward
Dear Yahoos!
I couldn’t be more excited to be here — thank you for the warm welcome over the past two days! I can’t wait to get to know more about Yahoo’s products, culture, and all of you. I’ve always had a deep respect for Yahoo! — I first experienced it as a student at Stanford in 1994 as “David and Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web” — and I’ve been fan ever since. I’m incredibly honored to now be a part of the team and work with all of you. Yahoo! is an Internet icon — in terms of brand, reach, user following, in its products and service. There is an enormous amount of opportunity in front of us.
The company has been through a lot of change in the past few months, leaving many open questions around strategy and how to move forward. I am sensitive to this. While I have some ideas, I need to develop a more informed perspective before making strategy or direction changes. In the meantime, please do not stop. You are doing important work. Please don’t stop. If you have questions or concerns about whether to continue or not, please ask. However, with the exception of a few things that might heavily constrain us in the future, the answer is most likely: “Yes, keep moving.”
Companies are all about people and the companies with the best talent win. Joining was an easy decision, because the strength of Yahoo!’s talent and the whole team here is apparent. We will continue to invest in talent, so we can produce the most compelling and exciting user experiences anywhere.
In recognizing our team’s deep talent, we all owe thanks to Ross Levinsohn, for his leadership and direction as interim CEO over the last couple of months. Ross has done a terrific job for the company.
Looking forward, we need to continue Yahoo!’s tradition of bold innovation, encourage creativity, and ultimately inspire and delight users and advertisers.
Please come by my office in building D on the third floor and say hello. I cannot wait to hear your ideas for Yahoo!’s future.
Marissa
