Verizon is said to be close to purchasing Yahoo, a deal rumored for weeks. As of this weekend, nothing is official, but a deal could be announced on Monday. This is important for your organization because Verizon already owns AOL. A combined organization, call it AOL-hoo, will unite AOL’s strong content (including The Huffington Post) and its services (Moviefone and Mapquest) with Yahoo’s email service and Flickr photo and Tumblr blog products. Add in Verizon Wireless’ market share as North America’s leading provider and six million FIOS customers. The combination creates a vertical organization. This new company would have as many or more visitors than Google or Facebook. Google will still dominate search, and Facebook will still be the leading social media channel. But your prospects and customers will be using the AOL-hoo, which means you’ll need to target it. Stay tuned. Even if this deal happens, any combinations or cuts are at least several months down the road. But be aware of the potential new player in town. |