Why the Past is the Future of Yahoo

We spend so much of our time focusing on the new tools or latest pieces of technology to move our companies (or ourselves) forward that we often fail to look to the past. No, I'm talking about going back to the days of "horses and bayonets," but instead, I'm talking about our digital past.

That's exactly what new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is doing, and I for one am interested to see how it all plays out. In her first earnings call since being named CEO, Mayer touched on the specific products the company will focus on--such as search and mail--but her biggest observation [in my opinion] is the fact that the company's focus will be on the consumer experience. The consumer experience is everything in today's marketplace [for brands, media outlets and many others], and it's an experience that extends well beyond the desktop. By combining current tools (mobile and tablet) with past successes, Mayer is concocting an interesting formula for the future of the Yahoo--both as a company and as a brand.

In what is obviously an outdated media relations page detailing the company's history, Yahoo proclaims "Yahoo! is the No. 1 Internet brand globally ..." Google [obviously] owns this mantle today, but under its new leadership, and with a blueprint for the future, it will be interesting to see where Yahoo goes from here. Sometimes, the simple answer is the best answer. We'll see if that's the case for Yahoo.