• ClickZ, Thursday, November 20, 2008 11 AM

With Jerry Yang gone, could Yahoo make a strategic return to media? When Yang resumed the post as Yahoo CEO following the departures of media moguls Terry Semel and Lloyd Braun in June 2007, the company drastically shifted its focus from media to consumer and advertiser services.

This was a mistake, Gregory March, group media director at Wieden + Kennedy tells ClickZ. "(Yang) was a big proponent of technical solutions over content. They could've been a great media play but they took a step away from that to try and compete with Google. I think Yang stepping away might turn their focus to more of a media business, which is largely based on the quality of the content." Yet a return to media would be a particularly tough sell for shareholders, as that strategy didn't exactly flourish under Semel and Braun. Even so, March says, "If the quality of the content increases and the size of the ad space increases, it could be a viable (path forward)."

Similarly, The New York Times' Saul Hansell argues that Yahoo really needs an editor-in-chief in the mold of a Clay Felker (former editor of New York Magazine) or a Tina Fey (actor/writer/producer of "30 Rock"). "I mean the sort of imperial editor who has a vision of how to create an environment that lures in both readers and advertisers," Hansell said.

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