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According to an online source, Yahoo is considered ³the world¶s largest global online

network of integrated services´. The company services ranges from news (financial, health,

entertainment and sports) to job search, yahoo messenger, and so much more. Moreover,

Statistics has showed that Æ 
achieved to reach out for more than 21 million local/

regional users in the U.S. and 90 million globally. Also, Yahoo links people to some information

they¶re looking for with those who expertly know it already. In short words, everyone at Yahoo

can freely express their experiences and insights with others, and by that way it works as a trade

of information; ³you give me and I¶ll give you´.

Yahoo was founded by David Filo and Jerry Yang, Standford Ph.D students whom

started the search engine business in 1994 as a hobby. They initially called it "Jerry and David's

Guide to the World Wide Web,´ but later changed the name to Yahoo, which stands for "Yet

Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.´ Nowadays, people can interact with it as well as

perform transactions through yahoo.com. Therefore, it is definitely the interest of many people

where the company through its fruitful website constantly tries to create innovative technological

advancements .Yahoo¶s target aim is to be the core of people's online lives; by delivering

relevant, meaningful, and credible information. Also, Yahoo aims at making a difference to be a

distinct website which endorses both its users and employees through programs, products, and

services that would inspire them to produce a positive impact on their communities.
Source:

(http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/faq.cfm), (http://docs.yahoo.com/info/misc/history.html),Y
http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/answers/overview/overview-55778.html

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When talking about Yahoo, it is sufficient to mention the company's six important values

and ethical principles, which are: excellence, innovation, customer fixation, teamwork,

community, and fun.

First, they are known for their excellence, where they value integrity and distinction.

Second, innovation which is to ³seek ideas to change the world´. Also, they give emphasis to

customer fixation, where customers come first. Yahoo values teamwork where open

communication is efficient whether on an internal or external level. Not to forget, their

community relations where they look for ways to have a positive impact on the society by

empowering its members. Nevertheless, they give importance to fun and energetic attitudes,

where humor is said to be an important aspect of their success.

Source: (http://docs.yahoo.com/info/values/), (http://info.yahoo.com/center/us/yahoo/)

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Successfully Yahoo offers a variety of services which are an unlimited access to rich

resources, communication tools, forums, shopping services, search services, personalized content

and branded programming. In addition, yahoo offers employment opportunities. Yahoo suggests

many shopping products of: clothing & accessories, computers, electronics, DVDs vs. music &

Books, flowers & gifts, Fragrances & beauty, Home & Garden, Jewelry & Watches, Sales &

Deals, Sports & Outdoors, Toys & Baby products, etc.

~  Yhttp://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html), (http://shopping.yahoo.com/)
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The main competitor for Yahoo is Google through its search engine and iGoogle, where

people can customize their search engine page. Another competitor is MSN, through its search

engine µBing¶. Both iGoogle and MSN provide news from various ranges and segments. Along

with Google and MSN, AOL is also a strong competitor where its slogan is ³AOL.com « brings

the web to you´ .As a matter of fact, AOL acts as an internet service provider.

 
 
   

Yahoo is for all internet users. The variety of news and services that the company offers

is for everyone from all ages. However, the company knows how to segment people according to

their geographic areas. For instance, people living in the Middle East and the Arab world have

Yahoo! Maktoub, which is the localized version of Yahoo. People can still access the global

Yahoo, but the localized version is the one that opens first.

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Y Advantages of Yahoo are the wide array of services that the company provides which

couldn¶t be found on other search engines. For instance, Yahoo¶s page could be easily accessed.

There are links on the side that are clear and user friendly. The overall look and feel of the page

is clear, professional and comfortable to the eye. The content of Yahoo also gives it an

advantage. Yahoo provides results that are slightly different than the ones found on Google.

Also, aside from all the content that Yahoo provides, the company¶s main focus is financial

news, unlike its competitors whose focus is general news and entertainment. Yahoo's features are

communication (instant messaging, chat rooms, and photo sharing), productivity (contact search

bar, yahoo search, yahoo address book, privacy settings, call forwarding, and voicemail), fun and
personalization (plug-ins, display images, and customizable fonts and colors). Whereas for its

attributes, as mentioned above the company provides a variety of products and services, has

privacy settings that protects its users¶ account from being hacked, and acts as information center

that provides various kinds of info. Lastly, Yahoo's numerous benefits are its ability to connect

people from all around the globe, and its distinct services for users with hearing impairments.Y

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Yahoo is an international website that is popular world wide as it is ranked number 4

worldwide with a 4.5 out of 5 stars and ranked number 3 in the US. However, it isn¶t ranked as 1

out of 10 in the UAE, yet it is marked as commonly used in the UAE for search after

Google.com.

A daily Page views percentage graph:

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ÚY ë ' Clicks only, Bricks- and ±clicks: Yahoo's website takes the consumer to either

websites that work by clicks only so that the consumer can buy and pay online or other
 websites that work by bricks and clicks where he/she can order online and pick the

product from the store or vice versa.

ÚY  Yahoo provides great offers on its website such as goods, entertainment, service,

videos, etc. While viewing the website, the viewer can access many different things using

yahoo¶s page.

ÚY ' Yahoo¶s website works as an online search engine website that also

provides many great offers and options for its viewers.

ÚY ~   Yahoo is mainly a search engine that directs customers or companies to find

either retail or wholesale shops.

ÚY    The website¶s main function is to search for information or other websites.

(mainly a search engine)

ÚY ~ Yahoo gives out passive information where the website doesn¶t allow people to

interact while using it. The website is sometimes interactive when viewers comment by

sending e-mails or uploading comments.

ÚY ~Y() Yahoo works as a B2B and B2C website as it works for both viewers

either customers or companies.

ÚY ()Y*  The website is an international website that provides services for all

viewers all over the world.

ÚY %Y+ Yahoo is a sole proprietor that works individually without having a partner.Y

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To beat up the competition that the company has whether with Google or other search

engines, Yahoo could do that by adding unique useful features that can't be found anywhere. By

doing that, Yahoo could be an alternative to other search engines drawing huge attention. One of
the innovative cleverly added features is the Search Assistant. The Search Assistant is only

displayed if you stop typing for a couple of seconds or when your typing slows. Similarly,

Google places a list of related searches at the top of the page; however, Yahoo's implementation

is more appealing and useful.

Another key feature is the SiteAdvisor's warnings that Yahoo placed next to websites that

offer malicious software or send spam which are "Safety ratings from McAfee SiteAdvisor are

based on automated safety tests of Web sites and are enhanced by feedback from volunteer

reviewers". McAfee SiteAdvisor is better than Google's warnings since they seem to offer a more

comprehensive protection and more information about the potential threats. One new key feature

by Yahoo is the fact that site owners will be able to provide all types of additional information

about their site directly to Yahoo! Search. Yahoo has footer, header, a perfect alignment,

graphics, feedback, animation, search menus, colors, and links. Nevertheless, it is multilingual

where the website is available in over 20 languages, including English.

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Launching Yahoo's website in the Middle East needs an effective marketing plan in order

for it to be successful. A web marketing plan is ³an overall blueprint for how marketing mix
strategies and tactics will be implemented to satisfy customer needs and meet business goals

typically over a period of one year or more´ .A good marketing plan should follow the SMART

objectives which stand for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely. In this section,

there are six elements of a marketing plan that should be implemented: Executive summary,

Company description, purpose and goals, Marketing situation, Forecasting, and Marketing

strategy.

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The executive summary summarizes the main objectives and recommendations

embedded in the marketing plan. Usually, the executive summary is written at the end; however,

in designing a web marketing plan, it will be the first section of the report. It has a summary of

the proposed budget and target sales for several segments of the market. In addition to this, it

might include the internal work plans of the company that will help in achieving the goals.

In the Yahoo case, the main objectives are:

ÚY To provide the best Internet experience for consumers and a platform for advertisers

across the Arab world.Y

ÚY To expand in the markets along with the competitors such as Google. Y

ÚY To have Yahoo the destination of many consumers.Y

ÚY To provide an Arabic version of both services which are Yahoo¶s mail and Yahoo¶s

messengerY

ÚY To provide information and communication tools that have a positive impact on people's

lives from different aspects. Y

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This section presents preliminary information on the business, competencies, products and

services that are offered.

ÚY d  YFirst of all, Yahoo is a United American computer services company. It¶s

an online media company that provides online properties and services. According to the

data analysis from the companies Alexa and Combet.Com, Yahoo is one of the most

visited websites on the Internet, having more than 130 million visitors every month from

different regions. Also, the average visits to their web pages reaches 3.4 billion times a

day since October 2007, making it one of the most American websites visited.

ÚY . YIt manages the Internet portal and directory of the network. It also offers other

products and services of the best known e-mail service, search engine, news service.

Moreover, it helps marketers to reach their target audience by unique advertising offers.

ÚY  YThe number of Internet users in the Middle East is more than tenfold since 2000.

Yahoo's goal is to launch an Arabic version website that offers all the services in the

Arabic language in the Middle East.

 
  

This section presents information on the, products and services, competition, distribution

factors and market environment. It defines the current state of the market trends in key

markets and discusses the general economic situation. Also, it displays a list of key

competitors and other valuable information such as the size of the competition and the

products and services that the competitors provide.

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 The core components of Yahoo¶s Business Model are its content, search and market

place, community and personalization. Google's Business Model is totally different where it

is based on Advertising to gain the profit. Google has good features such as the translation

tool, maps, Gmail, map, calendar and many other tools that are different from the features

that Yahoo has. 


  


  

The market environment consists of an internal and external situation. For instance,

Internal can be controlled, while the external cant..

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1. Yahoo has succeeded in the mobile market 1. Yahoo is ranked 5th in visitors among
more than Google. video sites like YouTube, but Google ranked
the 1st.
2. Yahoo has more supplementary products
compared to competitors. 2. Google generates more revenue.

3.Yahoo has a strong brand name

4.Partnerships with MLB, VISA

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1. Increase the Internet video advertising 1. Google has 50% of all online searches
spending. while Yahoo has 24% based on Neilson/Net
rating.
2. Yahoo Purchased Flicker
3. Yahoo signed an agreement to acquire 2. UAE consumer positive attitudes toward
using Yahoo are less than Google.
Maktoob.com
4. Yahoo has a strong reputation and image as 3. High level of competition especially from
Google.
well a well talented employees.
Y 4. Social websites like Facebook and My
space are using online advertising
marketing.
 The distribution channel is the path to move the goods from the producer to customers.

Yahoo¶s distribution channel is the website itself. The website is the path that let customers

interact and use yahoo¶s products and services. Yahoo has offices in Dubai, Amman and many

other counties in the Middle East. The offices of Yahoo in the Middle East help in extending and

creating a strong brand name.

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This section anticipates the outcomes if the marketing objectives were met.

ÚY Having an Arabic version website that is considered to be the first preferable search

engine choice by customers in the Middle East.

ÚY Overcome the competition.

ÚY Increase the advertisements' revenues.


 
 

The actions that Yahoo should take to accomplish the marketing objectives are:

ÚY Use flicker VISA, and MLB to promote the online advertisements.

ÚY Increase flicker capabilities to back up the decline in image search on Yahoo.

ÚY Encourage the target market to use Yahoo's search engine extensively in Middle East by

doing various campaigns to raise awareness.

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Hopefully, Yahoo will reach the top accomplishing its goals. In

November 11, 2009 Yahoo acquired Maktoob.com. Maktoob is the

leading Internet website in the Arab world which includes more than 16.5
million users. That gives Yahoo an opportunity to extend in the Middle East and be able to

compete with Google. Moreover, the company announced its official opening of their brand new

offices in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and Amman, Jordan. SmaihTawkan, one of the founders

of Maktoob.com, said: "This partnership is a natural evolution between Yahoo and Maktoob, and

this relationship would cause activity in the Internet market. We are excited to enhance the

Yahoo position and be present the Middle East, providing services to users in the region in the

Arabic language.´(Sekhri, 2009).

Not only will these facts secure for Yahoo a rapid success. But also, Yahoo has provided

Yahoo Safely in the Middle East through the website ³Yahoo oasis of safety"

(http://esafe.yahoo.com/) which was developed by a team from Yahoo and Maktoob. The

website works on educating Arabic native speaking children on how to use the Internet pages

and on how to protect their personal privacy through a series of educational programs and

entertaining ones that were offered through a number of channels

such as Maktoob, Yahoo, Games and Kids and Family.

Andy Abbar, Chairman of the management and

marketing of products in Yahoo Maktoob, said that he is pleased

to support ³Internet Security" where it helps in bringing the attention of people in the Middle

East where families are not fully aware of the safety of the Internet (Clark, 2011). Hence, Yahoo

provides a useful resource to educate children at a very young age.

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ÚY Drohn,J.,Bierer,B.,Woods,C.,Victory,M.&Reapela,P.(2007,May9). Yahoo Case Analysis.

Retrieved March22,2011 from

http://www.scribd.com/doc/65298/Yahoo-Case-Analysis

ÚY Clark, R. P. (2011, Febrarury14).Aramex endorses Yahoo! Safety Oasis to educate

children about online safety in the Middle East. Aramex.com. Retrieved March 25,

ÚY 2011, from http://www.aramex.com/news/item.aspx?id=4c3588cd-5257-42b7-acb3-

60269ae442ad

ÚY Sekhri,R. ( 2009, Augest25). Q&A: Maktoob founder SamihToukan.  

 
 Retrieved march 25,2011 from

http://en.news.maktoob.com/20090000367846/Q_A_Maktoob_founder_Samih_Toukan/

Article.htm

ÚY http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/utos-173.html

ÚY http://shopping.yahoo.com/

ÚY http://docs.yahoo.com/info/values/

ÚY http://info.yahoo.com/center/us/yahoo/

ÚY http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/faq.cfm

ÚY http://docs.yahoo.com/info/misc/history.html

ÚY http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/answers/overview/overview-55778.html