????就在三年多以前，瑪麗莎·梅耶爾開始用破釜沉舟的策略來(lái)扭轉(zhuǎn)雅虎的頹勢(shì)，并為此進(jìn)行了各種嘗試。雅虎一口氣收購(gòu)了約40家中型初創(chuàng)企業(yè)，并且嘗試使用一些高成本但引人注目的內(nèi)容，比如招攬知名媒體人加盟，以及續(xù)拍美劇《廢柴聯(lián)盟》。

????現(xiàn)在，梅耶爾又祭出了專注和自律這個(gè)法寶，甚至要削減雅虎為《廢柴聯(lián)盟》等三部原創(chuàng)電視劇投入的4200萬(wàn)美元資金。

????但時(shí)至今日，梅耶爾重振雅虎的計(jì)劃顯得更前景渺茫了。雅虎剝離240億美元阿里巴巴股份的行動(dòng)在稅收方面也出現(xiàn)了疑問（美國(guó)國(guó)稅局拒絕了雅虎預(yù)先批準(zhǔn)此項(xiàng)計(jì)劃的請(qǐng)求）。更糟糕的是，由于8月份中國(guó)股市暴跌，剝離阿里巴巴股份的“錢景”已經(jīng)大不如前。同時(shí)，雅虎高層的更迭頻率令人擔(dān)心，新廣告產(chǎn)品的創(chuàng)收成本也在不斷攀升。

????雅虎周二（10月20日）公布的今年第三季度業(yè)績(jī)顯示，該公司收入比上年同期減少了8.4%，原因就是上述成本的增長(zhǎng)。在這個(gè)季度，雅虎僅實(shí)現(xiàn)收入10億美元，而上年同期為10.9億。總收入實(shí)際上是增長(zhǎng)的，但創(chuàng)收成本，或者說(shuō)流量獲取成本，從去年第三季度的4300萬(wàn)美元猛增至2.23億美元。每股凈利潤(rùn)0.08美元，上年同期則為6.70美元（得益于阿里巴巴上市帶來(lái)的收益）。雅虎對(duì)今后業(yè)績(jī)的展望表明，第四季度的流量獲取成本會(huì)更高。

????梅耶爾在周二的業(yè)績(jī)發(fā)布會(huì)上說(shuō)，這樣的表現(xiàn)“并非我們希望看到的，我們遇到了挑戰(zhàn)，未能實(shí)現(xiàn)自己的業(yè)績(jī)目標(biāo)。”

????這可不是梅耶爾在此前幾個(gè)季度描述的紅火場(chǎng)面。批評(píng)之聲紛至沓來(lái)，梅耶爾也必須承認(rèn)自己遇到了麻煩。說(shuō)到讓雅虎擺脫困境的問題，梅耶爾表示，該公司目前擁有她上任以來(lái)最強(qiáng)大的管理團(tuán)隊(duì)。

????梅耶爾還說(shuō)投資者只顧眼前。她指出，一個(gè)季度的情況不能代表雅虎的長(zhǎng)期策略。該公司的新廣告平臺(tái)Gemini“拖累了收入”，原因是它仍在學(xué)習(xí)怎樣把最相關(guān)的廣告推送給用戶。

????市后交易中雅虎股價(jià)微跌，報(bào)32.40美元。

????梅耶爾說(shuō)，雅虎最晚可能要到明年第一季度才能剝離阿里巴巴的股份，此舉將讓雅虎更集中于核心業(yè)務(wù)，并且簡(jiǎn)化結(jié)構(gòu)，“2016年的雅虎將變得更加專注。”

????要在明年提高業(yè)務(wù)專注度，雅虎就得讓用戶更多地參與。梅耶爾表示：“雅虎有超過(guò)10億用戶，而且其中大多數(shù)每天都會(huì)瀏覽雅虎的網(wǎng)站。我們得設(shè)法提高自己與終端用戶的關(guān)聯(lián)度，并讓他們更多地上我們的網(wǎng)站。”她補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，“用戶參與，是雅虎長(zhǎng)期增長(zhǎng)的關(guān)鍵。”

????對(duì)梅耶爾來(lái)說(shuō)，挽救雅虎一直都需要她全力以赴。這家大型企業(yè)已經(jīng)見證了多位CEO的來(lái)來(lái)往往，也實(shí)施過(guò)諸多策略。作為曾經(jīng)的網(wǎng)絡(luò)巨無(wú)霸，這些年來(lái)雅虎陷入了停滯，前景不明而且缺乏方向。

????梅耶爾正在試圖重振一家互聯(lián)網(wǎng)媒體公司，這是一項(xiàng)前所未有的工作。和雅虎規(guī)模相當(dāng)而且成功做到這一點(diǎn)的企業(yè)只有兩家，分別是eBay和Priceline，但它們都來(lái)自電子商務(wù)領(lǐng)域。為什么像MySpace和Bebo這樣的大型互聯(lián)網(wǎng)媒體公司在沒落之后就再也無(wú)法翻身呢？這是因?yàn)樗鼈兌疾粔驅(qū)Ｗⅲ课冶硎緫岩伞＃ㄘ?cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：Charlie

????校對(duì)：詹妮

????Just over three years ago, Marissa Mayer embarked on the turnaround of Yahoo with a kitchen-sink strategy of trying anything and everything. It voraciously acquired 40 or so middling startups. It tried its hand at expensive, high-profile content from Katie Couric, David Pogue, and Community.

????Now Mayer is preaching the gospel of focus and discipline—even going so far as to write down the $42 million her company spent on Community and two other original shows.

????Mayer’s Yahoo YHOO -3.19% turnaround plan is looking less promising by the day. There are question marks around the tax bill for Yahoo’s $24 billion spin-off of its Alibaba BABA -1.18% shares. (The IRS denied Yahoo’s request for prior approval of its plan.) Making matters worse, the Alibaba spin-off doesn’t look nearly as lucrative as it did before the Chinese markets got crushed in August. Meanwhile Yahoo’s executive turnover has reached concerning levels. And the cost of revenue from its new advertising products continues to increase.

????Today’s earnings report, which reflected an 8.4% drop in revenue from a year ago, reflected those increased costs. In the third quarter, Yahoo brought in just $1 billion in revenue, down from $1.09 billion a year earlier. The company’s total revenue actually increased, but its cost of revenue, or “TAC,” increased substantially from $43 million in the year-ago quarter to $223 million this quarter. The company reported a net earnings per share of $0.08, compared with $6.70 last year (the latter boosted by Alibaba proceeds) and its guidance shows TAC will rise even higher next quarter.

????The results were “not indicative of the performance we want,” Mayer said in Tuesday’s earnings call. “We have encountered challenges and not achieved the results we had hoped for.”

????This is not the rosy portrait that Mayer has painted in past quarters. Criticism is mounting, and Mayer must acknowledge her gadflies. She addressed the issue of turnover by saying that Yahoo’s executive team was the strongest it had been in her tenure.

????Mayer also acknowledged investors’ short-term mindset. Yahoo’s long-term strategy will not be defined by a single quarter, she said. The company’s new advertising platform, Gemini, has “suppressed revenue,” Mayer said, because it is still learning how to serve the most relevant ads to users.

????Investors traded Yahoo stock slightly down in after-hours trading, to $32.40.

????Mayer said the spin-off of Yahoo’s stake in Alibaba, which may happen as late as the first quarter of next year, will allow the company to focus more closely on its core operations and simplify its structure. “We will be a more focused company in 2016,” she said.

????Yahoo’s increased focus next year will require deepening the engagement it gets from its users. “With more than a one billion users, we have most people who are online coming to us throughout the month,” Mayer said. “We need to work to improve our relevance to end users and how many times they come to us.” Engagement, the chief executive said, will be key to long-term growth.

????Saving Yahoo was always a going to be a stretch for Mayer, who arrived at a large company that had cycled through numerous CEOs and strategies. Once an Internet behemoth, Yahoo stagnated under years of uncertainty and lacking direction.

????Mayer is attempting the first ever turnaround of an Internet media company. Just two companies of Yahoo’s size and scale have ever managed the feat, and both are e-commerce businesses: eBay and Priceline. It’s unclear why none of the major fallen Internet media companies—MySpace, Bebo—have managed to do the same. I doubt it’s because they lacked focus.