Yahoo

1. Industry Analysis

1-1. About this Industry

1-1-1. Industry Definition

We focus on search engine industry in the United States in this report. Search engine industry refers to the cluster of companies which provide on-line search and advertisement services. They usually provide search service for free and charge fees to advertisers by “Cost Per Click” way. In order to broaden their user base, those companies try many ways by offering additional web-based services.

1-1-2. Main Activities

The main activities of this industry vary from web-based services to a variety of contents. Web-based services include on-line text and image search, email, maps, video, or community and so on. As time passed by, instead of just being a bridge between users and their destination, companies in this industry try to become end users’ destination. In other words, they try to work as people’s terminal by providing information, entertainment, and commerce1.

As for their products and services, they provide “paid inclusion”, “paid placement”2, and banners advertisements to buyers. For major buyers, they even offer advertising and marketing advice service.

As for the portal websites, we can divide the contents into four categories3. First, collection of news and other daily information such as stock price, weather, and entertainment. Secondly, e-commerce appears as the form of online sales and marketing/advertising platform. Thirdly, distribution of information for other content providers such as column, jobs, dating and so on. Lastly, searching service.

1-2. Analysis of Macro Environment

1-2-1. Searching Engine Technology

The development of modern searching technology has been through a long journey. At the beginning, there was a retrieval system, then directories, vertical search, and then here comes modern searching technology. From the past history, we can tell that the nature of technology and this industry is keeping changing. Therefore, keeping focus on researching...