Yahoo Appoints Ex-Googler Marissa Mayer As CEO, Reports Q2 Earnings

Suddenly, Yahoo is a hot topic. Despite years of languishing, the search / media portal is now in the forefront of minds in Silicon Valley thanks to one particular lady: Marissa Mayer. Moving over from Google to Yahoo is a big deal, and stepping in as CEO, she'll have an uphill battle ahead turning Yahoo around. But at least she doesn't have any hugely bad news from Q2 earnings to usher her in. The company announced its second quarter 2012 earnings today, with $190 million in operating income reported. Roughly, that's flat year-over-year, but sometimes flat is better than the alternative of down. On a GAAP basis, income from operations decreased 71 percent to $55 million in the second quarter of 2012, compared to $191 million in the second quarter of 2011.


Coming from Google, Mayer brings loads of experience and plenty of innovative DNA. She'll be expected to lay out a solid path forward for the company in the coming days and weeks. Will Yahoo rise up and compete with Facebook and Google, or pivot to something different?