Marissa Mayer's Yahoo shopping spree (pictures)
During her first year as CEO, Marissa Mayer spearheaded the buyout of several smaller Internet companies as Yahoo stockpiled talent.
Mayer at Yahoo, 1-year in
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has repeatedly stressed that mobility is vital to the company’s future. That importance shows in Yahoo’s acquisitions over the past year.
Here's a look at some of the biggest moves Mayer has made since taking lead of the Web giant one year ago.
Wall Street likes what it's seeing
As we all know, Wall Street is fickle. But so far, so good: a look at Yahoo's one-year stock chart shows the market's positive assessment of Mayer's leadership to date.
Stamped recommendations
Last October, Yahoo acquired Stamped, the first acquisition of the Mayer regime. The recommendation engine built by former Googlers launched as a smartphone app in November 2011, letting users recommend books, movies, restaurants, and other things to friends.
Video-chat startup OnTheAir
Video-chat startup OnTheAir was the second mobile acquisition made by Mayer, who says that eventually she hopes half of Yahoo's staff will be working on mobile products.
Alike recommendations
In February, Yahoo made another mobile move when it acquired Propeld, maker of the Alike location-based app which let users recommend bars, restaurants, and shops that are considered favorites and are nearby or similar to other venues.
GoPollGo
Yahoo announced its purchase of GoPollGo in May. The GoPollGo app let users send a poll to Twitter or Facebook from their iPhone and get real-time feedback. The service has since been shut down.
$1.1 billion for Tumblr
In May, Yahoo made its flashiest purchase to date under Mayer's guidance, buying Tumblr for $1.1 billion.
Promising "not to screw it up," the companies said Tumblr would remain a separate entity with the same "irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators." Founder David Karp stayed on in his role as CEO of Tumblr.
Pinterest clone Snip.it
Snip.it helped people collect and share content they are interested in, including articles, images, and videos. The Pinterest-like service catered to subject-matter experts who wanted to add their own commentary to digital content. Yahoo shuttered the company after acquiring it in January.
Jybe social recommendations
In March, Yahoo announced the acquisition of Jybe, an iOS app that recommended books, movies, and restaurants based on user preferences stated on social-networking sites. As part of the acquisition, the Jybe service and app were shut down.
Summly
Yahoo made news in March when it reportedly paid $30 million for Summly, an app that identified relevant information in news articles and turned them into tidy little paragraphs for the iPhone.
MileWise
In May, Yahoo bought travel startup MileWise, which promised to help you "Travel like a genius." The service enabled users to figure out travel rewards programs, searching for flights in frequent flyer miles and hotels in credit card points. It has since been shut down.
Astrid to-do list
In May, Yahoo announced it would be purchasing to-do-list app Astrid.
Xobni smart address book
More recently, Yahoo acquired Xobni, a self-described "smart address book" with products for Microsoft Outlook and Gmail. The idea behind Xobni is to organize data -- email, text message, and phone call contacts -- so that your head doesn't explode from info overload after you log on.
Loki Studios mobile gaming
With an emphasis on talent acquisition, in May, Yahoo aquired Loki Studios, a mobile gaming startup. In a tweet announcing the purchases of Astrid, GoPollGo, MileWise, and Loki Studios, Yahoo specifically mentioned the engineers and entrepreneurs behind the startups, highlighting their talent purchasing, also known as "acqui-hiring."
Where to next?
Where will Mayer take Yahoo next? Given the breathless pace of acquisitions in the past year, the company has brought on board a lot of new talent. Now the question is whether the payoff will justify the price in Year 2 -- and beyond.