Yahoo Celebrates 10th Birthday

Yahoo! is one of the most impressive Internet success stories. Began as a hobby a decade ago, Yahoo! has grown to become an industry titan with a market cap in excess of $44 billion.

Beginning as a student hobby, Yahoo! grew up as one of the most popular search engines. Ten years ago, the two founders of Yahoo!, David Filo and Jerry Yang, Ph.D. candidates in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, started their guide in a campus trailer in February 1994. The link directory was initially aimed to keep track of their personal interests on the Internet.

Yahoo quickly became a web destination attracting visitors and providing information about financial information, jobs, movies, yellow pages, and more.

The anniversary is marked with a new Yahoo! logo on the main search page and coupons for celebratory ice cream.

Yahoo! celebrates its 10th anniversary with featuring moments on a web site designed for the birthday. Here the users can look at the Yahoo!'s historical milestones and leave feedback on the topics.

In the open anniversary letter Yahoo! founders say "As we take a moment to reflect back on the last ten years, we think about how far Yahoo! and the Internet have come. "

The Yahoo! founders Yang and Filo are still managing the company, though the CEO duties are assigned to the entertainment industry veteran Terry Semel.

The comments are Semel's most direct so far on the issue of whether the Internet giant plans to create more original programming for its Web site.

Under the Terry's leadership Yahoo is expanding to the entertainment industry. TV shows such as "The Apprentice" and other branded content and services can be expected to be seen more often in Yahoo in future.

The online advertising is one of the strongest positions for the company. Under a contract that runs through June 2006, Yahoo and MSN share revenue generated from text-based advertising that Yahoo delivers to MSN.

Semel said Tuesday that Microsoft is likely to form its own advertising network to compete with the ones run by Yahoo and online search engine leader Google Inc.

Yahoo! Inc. yesterday announced the launch of the Yahoo! Search Developer Network (http://developer.yahoo.com). It will provide developers with access to Web service application programming interfaces (APIs) to Yahoo! Search products and Overture's long standing API programs.

Additionally, the Yahoo! Search Developer Network provides application developers with sample code and tools to share ideas and expertise.

"We have worked closely with the development community to create a new program designed to stimulate open discussion, experimentation and development of new search applications," said Dr. David Ku, director of engineering, Yahoo! Search.

The Yahoo Search Developer Network features Yahoo! Search APIs which span Web search verticals, search engine marketing and direct advertising products.

In addition to providing the APIs, the Yahoo! Search Developer Network also enables developers to share knowledge, to ask questions, share ideas and provide feedback.

Yahoo is hoping to tempt more developers to its search products by providing easier access to its Web service APIs along with programmes and tools.