Yahoo! rocked the tech world this week by announcing the selection of Marissa Mayer as their new CEO. Although she hasn't been on the job more than a couple of days, she is already being criticized as an unusual selection. The critics say that she has no real leadership experience and they think that perhaps her best years are behind her and that she has nothing fresh or new to offer Yahoo!
Mayer, known for her work with Google, was responsible for the clean look of the Google homepage. Although she has been with Google for the majority of her career, she is an engineer and inventor in her own right and has several patents in artificial intelligence and interface design.
However, I think that hiring Mayer was a brilliant move. Not only did it give Yahoo! the publicity it needed, Mayer brings a lot to the table. Throughout her career, she has been interested in providing products and enhancing the end-user experience which is exactly what Yahoo! needs in order to stay relevant. At one time, Yahoo! was the king of the internet. Yahoo had free email and a great messenger. It replaced the clunkier IRC and ICQ with a user friendly messaging tool. Everyone I knew was on Yahoo! Now, I don't use Yahoo! that much. It's one of those things were I feel that our best times lay in the past.
This is why I think that Mayer will be the change that Yahoo! needs. They both have something to prove. I, for one, hope that Mayer brings new life to Yahoo! and their services. A great place for her to start would be with Flickr and Yahoo! Groups. Both of these had the ability to be amazing, but somewhere along the way, they just got lost.
As for her ruining Yahoo!, I don't think that's a real risk. They've had five CEO's in five years. What Yahoo! needs is someone who can go the distance.
Do you think that Mayer can help Yahoo! Please share your thoughts in the comments.
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