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Marissa Mayer wants Yahoo to focus on product, not profit

Marissa Mayer wants Yahoo to focus on product, not profit

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The Wall Street Journal reports that new Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is focusing her energies on developing the company's email and search services, as part of an attempt to create more user-friendly products.

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Marissa Mayer
Marissa Mayer

It's been just three weeks since Marissa Mayer took over as Yahoo's new CEO, but according to the Wall Street Journal, she's already begun constructing a roadmap for the once-proud web giant. The Journal's sources say Mayer won't release a full strategic plan until she's finished reviewing Yahoo's financials, though her early focus is on the company's products — specifically, its email and search services. Mayer is also reportedly interested in acquiring or developing location based services that provide users with real-time data about nearby businesses.

On a more general level, Mayer is urging employees to focus on users rather than the company's bottom line, going so far as to remove Yahoo's stock ticker from its internal website. "I want you thinking about users" has become a familiar Mayer mantra, according to people who have worked with her. As the Journal notes, this approach marks a rather stark departure from predecessor Scott Thompson, who focused more on developing Yahoo's e-commerce platforms, as well as interim CEO Ross Levinsohn, who concentrated on boosting the company's ad revenue.