Yahoo today issued its annual 10-K report to the Securities And Exchange Commission. These kinds of forms have a lot of boilerplate language that is reused again and again — often, companies just change the relevant revenue numbers and leave everything else the same for years (come to think of it, isn’t that the excuse former Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson made for the errors in his official bio?)
But with this latest 10-K, its first with Marissa Mayer at the helm as CEO, Yahoo switched up its language in an interesting way. Yahoo is now labeling itself first and foremost as a “global technology company,” in the place where it used to call itself a “digital media company.”
Here is the first sentence of today’s 10-K (bold type added by TechCrunch for emphasis):
“Yahoo! Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries (‘Yahoo!,’ the ‘Company,’ ‘we,’ or ‘us’), is a global technology company focused on making the world's daily habits inspiring and entertaining.”
And here is the first sentence of the 10-K Yahoo filed last year and the two years prior, respectively (again, bold type added for emphasis):
“Yahoo! Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries (‘Yahoo!,’ the ‘Company,’ ‘we,’ or ‘us’), is a premier digital media company.”
“Yahoo! Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries (‘Yahoo!,’ the ‘Company,’ ‘we,’ or ‘us’), is a premier digital media company that delivers personalized digital content and experiences, across devices and around the globe, to vast audiences.”
“Yahoo! Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries (‘Yahoo!,’ the ‘Company,’ ‘we,’ or ‘us’), attracts hundreds of millions of users every month through its innovative technology and engaging content and services, making it one of the most trafficked Internet destinations and a world class online media company.”
It seems that Mayer, a bona fide engineer by training, is working to put an end to that long-running debate as to whether Yahoo is primarily a media firm or a tech firm — no more quibbling, technology is the top priority. Like other corporate moves since Mayer has taken over as Yahoo’s CEO, it’s a small change, but it’s a symbolic and important one.
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