What does this mean for users on the Yahoo Small Business eCommerce platform?
On May 3rd, 2021, it was announced that Verizon had sold off 90% of Yahoo and AOL to private equity firm Apollo Global Management at the price of $4.25 billion. As part of the agreement, Verizon will retain 10% of their stake, plus $750 million in additional preferred stock in the new Yahoo company, which will oversee operations going forward. Current Verizon Media CEO Guru Gowrappan will be staying on board.
This revelation comes as little surprise as reports of Verizon’s attempts to exit the digital media industry went public. Throughout the last decade, Verizon went on an aggressive multi-billion dollar purchasing frenzy to acquire just about any and every once-dominant property that wasn’t already owned by Google or Facebook. Verizon paid over $9 billion for AOL and Yahoo in an attempt to compete against Google and Facebook for Internet supremacy but ultimately, the project never got off the ground and Verizon (VIA their newly-rebranded Verizon Media division) was hemorrhaging money because of it. Additionally, the infamous Yahoo data breaches which took place prior to Verizon’s acquisition, also further deteriorated the brand’s value and cost over $117 million in settlements. Verizon had also failed to reach their annual revenue goals, partly due to the beginning months of the COVID-19 global pandemic.
Verizon spokesperson Kim Ancin told reporters at Ecommerce Bytes: “There will likely be some changes with our branding, but the products our customers trust and the team members they work with will remain part of Verizon. Our team remains committed to providing our customers with innovative solutions that drive their businesses forward.”
Where does that put current users of Yahoo Small Business? Despite the possible rebrand, Verizon wants to assure their Yahoo Small Business customers that they can expect no changes or disruptions in the service. However, therein lies the problem.
According to user reviews on TrustRadius and HostAdvice, Yahoo’s failure to evolve is one of the platform’s major downfalls. Yahoo was once a major eCommerce innovator in the late 1990s, but times and technologies have changed. The Yahoo Small Business eCommerce platform is notoriously antiquated and eons behind in regards to the features, functionality, and security that today’s eCommerce store owners expect. The glaring faults in Yahoo’s security measures are evidenced by their multiple data breach scandals, including the largest breach ever recorded in 2016.
The problems with Yahoo aren’t just limited to outdated tech and substandard security. Users also cite poor customer service and user support, inflexibility in website customization and app/integration, questionable business practices ranging from sketchy billing and pricing to the selling of personal information, aiding in government surveillance, to even the implementation of adware and spyware. It’s no wonder that the one-time Internet giant has fallen to modern, technologically-superior eCommerce solution providers such as BigCommerce and Shopify.
Migrating Off of Yahoo
For Internet business owners, the decision to migrate their websites off of a familiar platform onto an entirely brand new service is a tough but critical call to make. On the other hand, when the platform in question happens to be as uncompetitive and inadequate as Yahoo is, migrating away can be one of the most valuable and important steps towards improving the overall business performance. After all, BigCommerce and Shopify aren’t the two biggest names in eCommerce today for no reason. Both offer their users a plethora of resources and support to grow their brands far beyond the confines of Yahoo and into the competitive marketplace.
Performance Advantages of BigCommerce and Shopify Over Yahoo:
- Easy to use
- Wide list of standard features
- Secure: Level 1 PCI DSS compliant
- Fully-customizable
- Mobile-friendly
- Optimized for SEO
- Integration with industry-leading business systems and apps
- 24/7 support
- Automatic updates
- Multi-tier pricing plans
- Available for desktop and mobile
- Designed for businesses of all sizes
- Unrestricted growth and earnings potential
Diztinct’s Web Migration Services
Diztinct is an expert team of dedicated eCommerce specialists with over 15 years of custom web design experience. We’ve designed and built websites and marketplaces for companies of all sizes; ranging from small independents to large corporations. We have the technical skill and expertise to protect your website’s critical internal information, SEO standings, and keyword rankings during the migration. When you choose Diztinct to create or update your website, we address every aspect of the migration process. A summary of our standard migration services includes:
- Basic data transfer
- Product and inventory management
- Page titles and metadata migration
- SEO data retention and optimization
- Link preservation
- Category page migration
- Policy and other informational page transfer
- Redirects
In addition, we’re also proud to be certified design partners with both BigCommerce and Shopify. That means when you choose Diztinct to handle all of your web migration needs, every aspect of the migration process will be executed by professionals who know the ins and outs of your preferred platform, be it BigCommerce or Shopify.
We have the tools, the talent, and the support of both BigCommerce and Shopify to ensure that all of your website’s important data remains protected and your current SEO rankings are maintained, if not improved, during the process.
Are you ready to give your website and your business the Diztinct advantage over the competition? If so, let’s talk. Get in touch with us today and get ready to make your website work for you.