Internet media company Yahoo’s Chairman and Chief Executive Mr Terry Semel has said that he stands by his earlier forecast for slow advertising sales for the rest of the year. He also said the company has identified potential targets for acquisition.
"It is a down market," he said, speaking at a Goldman Sachs investor conference. At the last earnings call "I said at that time we don't expect any monumental change in the ad business until the second half of next year. I know things have changed a lot and they've gotten worse. Some will say, 'Well, it went down faster, it'll come back faster. I have no way of projecting that."
"Visibility is hard to see, but we stand by where we were at our last earnings call," he added. "Clearly, it's a very uncertain economic environment but it won't change the direction we are heading in."
While advertising would continue to be an important part of Yahoo's business, Mr Semel said it would constitute a smaller part of the total mix as the company increases its focus on advertising and marketing services - including direct marketing - business and enterprise services and consumer pay services, as well as providing high-speed content.
Mr Semel also said the company has made great strides in making changes to meet the changing needs of the market. Yahoo has assembled a new sales team with a "new strategy and a new attitude" that has been working on improving relationships with major ad agencies and major customers. He also said the company has now filled all key positions.
With $1.7 billion in cash, Mr Semel said Yahoo was shopping for acquisitions in areas it already does business in. "Because we do have a solid balance sheet.. we have identified a few opportunities," Mr Semel said.