Yahoo , the once - vaunted internet heavyweight , is in shambles . Its revenue is indecline . Its stockholder arecrying foul . Its prized public faces arescrambling for an issue , and the caller has laid off15 percentof its hands . Its core business enterprise — internet hunt and advertising — isnegatively valued . hover over all of this is a prospective sales agreement of the fellowship ’s marrow assets , bid for which havereportedly reached more than $ 5 billion .
That possible sale is in bare contrast to the four years CEO Marissa Mayer led Yahoo through an accomplishment tear , snapping up 53 society for a sum of $ 2.3 billion , according to a society interpreter . ( Other estimatesput that bit nigher to $ 2.8 billion . )
As CEO , Mayer has had the unpleasant honour of leading a company that seemed designate to flush it , but that was n’t always the instance . When she convey over in mid-2012 , employees were so enthusiastic about her reaching that one even photoshoppedher faceon Obama - mode “ hope ” posters and hang them up around the company ’s headquarters . Mayer did her serious to dwell up to eminent expectations . She deployedquick fixesto solve Yahoo ’s morale problems , include flourish maternal leave and hiringhigh - profile celebritiesto launch the company ’s media division .
But there was a riskier , more aggressive side to Mayer ’s scheme that ’s ripe for examination now that Yahoo ’s sale is all but certain . Part of Mayer ’s rescue architectural plan was anemphasis on growing its “ MaVeNS ” businesses — an odd acronym for mobile , video , aboriginal advertising , and societal . Mayer ’s acquisition tear was key to this expansion : it was seen as an comfortable fashion to add talent and technology the caller desperately demand . Mayer has been vocal about the scheme , and it ’s clear that the company believes in its success . “ If divulge out on their own as a company , [ the MaVeNS businesses ] would undoubtedly be one of the fast spring up startups in the world , ” shesaidduring a 2015 net income call .
The reasons for Yahoo ’s downslope are complex . But what ’s light is that the MaVeNS and acquisitions rescue scheme has n’t been capable to preserve the fellowship from itself , despite Mayer’sprotestations that it was successful . It ’s worth look , then , at incisively why these deals were made , and what has fall out since . In an exploit to track the engineering and talent that came aboard , as well as track the receipts for the pricey acquisitions , we ’ve put together a inclination of the 53 companies Yahoo gobble up under Mayer ’s watch .
While not every party profile is exhaustive , we ’ve done our proficient to go after their whereabouts . Above all else , we want to understand why Mayer select the companies she did , and what economic value , if any , they added to the company . After all , $ 2.3 billion is a band of money — especially when the spending does n’t appear to have paid off the way Mayer had hoped .
Shut downs: Companies that were gutted for talent and tech
consort to Yahoo , many of the 53 society were talent and technology acquisition , so it should come as no surprisal that most promptly close down post - attainment . It ’s difficult to estimate to what degree each company ’s engineering was incorporated into Yahoo or its products ( if at all ) , but we ’ve made greenback of it where we ascertain evidence .
As far as the natural endowment attainment was concern , Yahoo take what an insider airless to the process shout a “ prescriptive ” approach .
“ The whole point was , ‘ Hey , your company is n’t working , therefore we ’re fetch you on for the talent . We ’re not interested in the Cartesian product and service you have in market , ” the insider secern Gizmodo . These deals were done to work people into areas that badly needed growth — particularly mobile , which Mayer has say had some 50 employees working on it when she link up . The technical school acquisitions , on the other hand , were made largely to improve the ship’s company ’s offerings and consumer product .
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1 . October 2012 : Stamped
This societal recommendation appshut down , and according to a companyblog post , the team went on to work on Yahoo ’s mobile side . They knew Mayer from Google , aconnectionshe would continue to mine with previous acquisitions .
2 . December 2012 : OnTheAir
Like Stamped , this video chat app close down , and its team was get on to cultivate on Yahoo ’s nomadic side , according tothe society .
3 . January 2013 : Snip.it
Snip.it , whose websitenow redirectsto Yahoo ’s tech vertical , wasdescribedas a “ Pinterest - comparable site for article curation . ” Itshut downsoon after , and most of its team wasreportedto have joined Yahoo ’s ranks .
4 . February 2013 : likewise
Alike was an app plan for location - establish good word . Both the web and nomadic versions of the app werediscontinued , and the teamjoined withYahoo ’s peregrine whole .
5 . March 2013 : Jybe
Co - founder Arnab Bhattacharjeetold TechCrunchthat the testimonial app ’s applied science would be fold into Yahoo products , but the serving itselfshut down . The team fall in Yahoo , where they hadall work before .
6 . March 2013 : Summly
The news - reading appfamous for having teenager Nick D’Aloisio as its founder , who shut it down post - learning . He worked at Yahoo untilOctober 2015 , and helped make the Yahoo News Digest app . Gizmodo alsomade him cry once .
7 . May 2013 : Astrid
The productivity appalluded toa shut down in its initialblog post , but it did n’t sink Astrid untilAugust 2013.The whole teamreportedlyjoined Yahoo ’s mobile division ; its founder , Tim Su , still work there , according to his LinkedIn page .
8 . & 9 . May 2013 : GoPollGo and Milewise
The teams of both company — a real - time polling service and a travel internet site , severally — joined the Yahoo mobile squad at the same sentence , according toa statement provided to TechCrunch at the meter . Bothalsoshut down .
10 . June 2013 : Rondee
The conference predict servicestoppedaccepting new users when it was acquire , andstoppedgiving exploiter access code to old information in August 2013 . It also noted the team would be join Yahoo ’s small-scale line of work team .
11 . July 2013 : Qwiki
Yahoo permit the TV creation app live for a little over a year , but thenshut it downin November 2014 . The squad , Yahoo say then , “ [ would ] go forward to introduce on new digital media experience for Yahoo users . ”
12 . July 2013 : Xobni
Email service company Xobni—“inbox ” spell backwards — keep out downin July 2014 . Yahoo insisted then that it had inject “ many Xobni - alike features into Yahoo Mail . ” In 2013 , the teamsaidit was joining Yahoo in California .
13 . July 2013 : Ztelic
The Beijing - based social data analysis company denote its acquisition and shutdown in a ( translated ) homepagenote . The company ’s founder , Hao Zheng , was a former Yahoo employee ; he and eight other team membersjoinedthe party .
14 . August 2013 : RockMelt
RockMelt was a connection web internet browser built for deal social subject , then a intelligence collector , butshut down after acquisition . Yahoo saidit planned to habituate the technical school , and two co - founders bring together Yahoo , accordingtotheirLinkedIn profiles .
15 . August 2013 : IQ railway locomotive
According to aposton its internet site , IQ Engines , an image recognition inauguration , shut down to work with Flickr . ( In retrospect , that may not have been the best move . ) Both co - founderswentto oeuvre for Yahoo , per theirLinkedIn profile .
16 . October 2013 : LookFlow
LookFlow was function on icon recognition technology , which Yahoo theninjected into Flickr . consort to the ship’s company , LookFlow — as well as IQ Engines — helped grow the deep erudition organization for Flickr ’s auto - tagging feature .
17 . October 2013 : boodle
18 . December 2013 : Ptch
TheDreamWorks Animation mobile video startupshut downin January 2014.Business Insider reportedthat Ptch was supposed to immix with Qwiki , another Yahoo leverage , but those talks fell apart , and Mayer buy them singly . Early employee who had equityreportedlydidn’t get much in the hand , either .
19 . December 2013 : EvntLive
The online concert streaming companyshut downand said it would be join Yahoo ’s video team . But based on their LinkedIn profiles , it come out thatnoneof thecompany’sco - founder actually went toworkfor Yahoo .
20 . December 2013 : Quik.io
The medium communion appdescribed itself asthe “ FedEx of media files . ” It shut down , and three of its squad members joined Yahoo ’s video squad , grant to a company spokesperson .
21 . December 2013 : SkyPhrase
SkyPhrase focused on natural language processing technology . Its CEO , who isnowYahoo ’s Director of Sciences , once claimedthe engineering yielded more accurate resolution than that of Siri or Wolfram Alpha . The teamjoinedYahoo Labs .
22 . December 2013 : PeerCDN
PeerCDN promised to lower bandwidth costs with its compeer - to - match depicted object delivery system . Yahoo affirm the shut down , and said the squad joined the telecasting section . Two of the three co - founders no longerappeartowork there .
23 . January 2014 : Sparq
The roving merchandising fellowship ’s servicesshut downafter the attainment , and consort to hisLinkedIn page , founder Jesse Chor go to work on Yahoo ’s mobile monetization team .
24 . January 2014 : Cloud Party
The web web browser - based virtual game worldconfirmedits services would shut down . A Yahoo spokespersonsaidthe ship’s company was “ emotional to unify [ Cloud Party ’s ] unique view and experience ” with its own .
25 . January 2014 : Incredible Labs
The startup ’s personal assistant app Donna was shut down and discontinue , according to ablog postby Incredible Labs . Much of the team itself went to work for Yahoo , according toa company spokesperson .
26 . February 2014 : Distill
Distill aimed to make technical recruiting easier , but a Yahoo spokespersontold Business Insiderthat it was actually acquired for the team ’s former work withTapJoy , a mobile ad platform . Distillsaidthat its services would cease in March .
27 . March 2014 : Vizify
Vizify take information from a exploiter ’s societal medium feed and turned it into a pretty visualization . The teamsaidit would shut down its religious service , and a Yahoo spokespersonsaidthey would join Yahoo ’s “ media intersection organization . ”
28 . May 2014 : Blink
The Snapchat - esque ego - destruct messaging app announce news program of its learning and shut down in ablog post . A Yahoo spokespersonsaidthe seven - person team would join Yahoo to work on its “ smart communicating products . ”
29 . August 2014 : ClarityRay
30 . August 2014 : Zofari
The recommendation app is n’t in the App Store or Google Play Store , and its website isdead . ( Though at the time , TechCrunchreportedthat the product would stay afloat . ) The squad fail to employment on Yahoo ’s perpendicular search side .
31 . September 2014 : Luminate
Luminatewas draw as“AdSense for look-alike , ” and wasshut down fullythat October . At least one squad phallus , co - laminitis James Everingham , went to work for Yahoo , according to hisLinkedIn profile .
32 . September 2014 : Bookpad
Bookpad made Docspad , a Google Docs - like service that rent substance abuser to join forces on documents within an app . Docspad wasdiscontinuedthat October , and a Yahoo spokespersonsaidthe team would make on Yahoo Mail .
33 . October 2014 : MessageMe
The message app , which was also reportedly beingpursued by Snapchat , announcedits acquisition and shutdown on October 3rd . It said it would “ focus on assist build the best mobile communications products for Yahoo user . ”
Companies with multiple apps that were shut down
While most of the above companies or apps were single product , some of Mayer ’s accomplishment were software makers or app makers , and had more than one Cartesian product . The following intersection were shut down or discontinued as a solution of the acquirement .
34 . May 2013 : Loki Studios
The mobile gaming studio apartment ’s basal app Geomon , which incorporated a actor ’s position , wasshut down , according to bothYahooand theapp itself . The Loki Studios teamjoinedYahoo ’s peregrine team .
35 . June 2013 : Ghostbird Software
The mobile photography app Almighty joined Yahoo towork on Flickr , andannouncedit would stop update its apps KitCam and PhotoForge2 . The apps were also removed for download from the App Store .
36 . July 2013 : Bignoggins production
Bignoggins’sole full - time employee , laminitis Jerry Shen , was brought in to work on Yahoo Fantasy . His two fantasy sport apps were take down , but he said in a blog post that “ the applied science driving those apps will be integrate into Yahoo ’s own offerings . ” Unfortunately , that would n’t be the case for long : Shen wasfiredfrom Yahoo in 2015 , allegedly because he opened a party email with , “ Wuddup my n * * * * * , Ice Cube here , ” manifestly in reference to the movie Straight Outta Compton .
37 . October 2013 : Hitpost
The team of sports fluid app maker HitpostjoinedYahoo Sports and shut down its service at the same time it announced the acquirement . It also said its squad of seven would be joining Yahoo Sports in California .
38 . January 2014 : Tomfoolery
The mobile app lab ’s products , Anchor and Action , werediscontinued . Some of its employees , including its chief operating officer , Kakul Srivastava , were former Yahoos , and at leastsome of the teamreturned to the purple caller ’s residence .
39 . June 2014 : Photoful and PhotoDrive
PhotoSocial and PhotoDrive came fromJeff Bargmann , who was targeted in what looked to be a straight talent grab . He came on to sour for Flickr — his apps focused on exposure sharing and storage — and heshut down both projects .
40 . July 2014 : RayV
Mayerreportedlyacquired the on-line TV cyclosis startup in part to compete with YouTube . The technical school was integrated into Yahoo ’s video delivery internet while its program shut down . Most of its teamjoinedYahoo in Israel .
41 . November 2014 : Cooliris
Upon accomplishment , Cooliris — maker of the picture apps Cooliris for Mobile and BeamIt — saidits services would stay on . However , while BeamIt is still useable for download , it no longer appears to work for Modern user ; Cooliris for Mobile expect asimilar content . Yahoosaidit was “ delirious ” to welcome 17 employees .
Companies that continued in existing divisions
Not all of Yahoo ’s acquisitions were dim-witted talent or merchandise grabs . Some of the companies that came on board were permit to continue to varying degree , whether that intend rebranding under Yahoo ’s name or continue as subsidiaries . Some of them , like BrightRoll and Flurry , were what Yahoo term strategic attainment — marquee purchase that designed to be “ transformational . ”
42 . July 2013 : Lexity
Lexity ’s track at Yahoo has been somewhat muddled . When it was develop , the e - commerce app companysaiditwould eventually adoptYahoo branding . In 2015 , that division rebranded andbecame Luminate , which in twist was part ofAabaco Small Business . That company was supposed to be spun off from Yahoo as part of the Alibaba spin off , but Yahooreversed that decisionin December . Lexity CEO Amit Kumar join Yahoo Small Business in the original deal , but heleft the company in 2014 .
43 . January 2014 : Aviate
Yahoo turned Aviate , the smart homescreen app for Android , intoYahoo Aviate Launcher . At the time , Aviatesaidits tech and mathematical product would stay the same , but would “ get in force , quicker . ” Yahoonotedthat Aviate ’s team would join its own .
44 . July 2014 : Flurry
Yahoo made a fully grown — if recent — stir with the mobile analytics companypurchase . Yahoo said Flurry ’s products would “ continue to lock and innovate . ” Theappandhomepagenow conduct Yahoo ’s branding .
45 . November 2014 : BrightRoll
Yahoo buy the video advert platform for$640 millionin inhuman , intemperate John Cash , but thejury is still outon whether that was a success . BrightRoll was allowed tocontinue , albeit with some new Yahoo branding .
46 . December 2014 : Media Group One
Yahoo buy Germany ’s Media Group One to meliorate advertising increment in Europe . According to apress tone ending , the fellowship was “ expected to carry on to operate its business as common in the unretentive term , ” though it ’s since beenfolded in .
Still Kicking!
A brace of Mayer ’s acquisitions , let in Tumblr , her peak gem , are still doing their own thing .
47 . May 2013 : Tumblr
Even if you ’re not intimately familiar with Yahoo ’s purchases , you likely recognise that Tumblr was Yahoo ’s prized acquisition . It spent just over abillion dollarson it less than a class after Mayer took over , and promised — in the very next sentence after announce the deal—“not to screw it up . ” It ’s still going , although some have questioned whether or not Yahoo has killed its vibration . Also , Katie Couricsucks at it .
48 . July 2015 : Polyvore
The CEO and team joined Yahoo , but months by and by , some critics were n’t pleased . “ It ’s not acceptable to pay $ 230 million for zombi company go by former APM [ Mayer ’s program at Google ] members , ” one hedgerow fund managersaid in December .
Miscellaneous acquisitions
Some acquisitions do n’t fit into the above categories : Some did n’t have product yet , while others ’ asset were divvied up at a later date . In other cases , we were n’t capable to explicitly reassert a shut down , but we ’ll update if that changes .
49 . May 2013 : PlayerScale
PlayerScale — a software developer for crabby - platform play — promised usersit would “ carry on to support the same slap-up games that you love playing today . ” But in mid - May of this year , Yahoo announcedit was close down its Games division , of which PlayerScale was a part . According to Yahoo , the caller still possess the technology codification licence ; the back end services were transferred to The Games Platform Company .
50 . July 2013 : AdMovate
fit in to Yahoo , the society had n’t found any products when it was win , but its mobile ad tech went into Yahoo ’s own advert technical school . In ablog berth , Yahoo allege the firm ’s engineers would be working with its display ad team .
51 . February 2014 : Wander
Wander , which focused on contented creation habits , saidthat its Days app would live , but bothitandWander’swebsites are dingy , and day is nowhere to be found . Wander said its team was go to run on Yahoo ’s Mobile River and emerge products .
52 . October 2013 : Tocata Mobile
There ’s not much information about the Tocata acquisition out there , and it appears it was n’t account on at the time . According to Yahoo , the squad went to work on tangible - time analytics . The mobile DoC company ’s website is currently up for sales event , and its operations appear to have ceased .
53 . July 2014 : Leaf SR
Two of the security consulting firm ’s employee join Yahoo and uprise the basis of its New York security squad , according to the company . Leaf SR ’s website is now sour , save for anannouncementof the expiration .
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