Yahoo! Makes Its Pitch in Google's Shadow

Another indirect distinction that Yahoo! will likely address Thursday, says Mahaney, is a reminder that Yahoo! offers not only search engine advertising, via its Overture Services subsidiary, but also traditional branded advertising. Yahoo!'s prior references to "double-barreled" marketing services -- branded advertising and pay-per-click advertising -- imply that Google, with its pay-per-click advertising, offers only a single barrel to marketers, says Mahaney. "Implicitly, they are trying to get across the message, 'Yahoo! does search very well, thank you, and Yahoo! also does branded advertising very well, thank you.' "

The message about Yahoo!'s non-Google-like ability to be a showcase for branded advertising, Mahaney says, was also apparent in a story that ran in The New York Times Monday about a Yahoo! program for consumer products marketers such as Pepsi(PEP Quote). The timing of that story for the week of the analyst meeting "sounds kind of interesting," he said.

Mahaney's third forecast for what will come up at the meeting is Yahoo!'s businesss outside the U.S.

Yahoo!'s international operations are growing faster than its U.S. business, he says, and it's an element of Yahoo!'s story that people may not know or appreciate. "I just have a sense you're going to hear a lot more about Yahoo!'s international strengths than you have heard about before," he says.

Yahoo!'s daylong presentation, which will be held in San Francisco, will be webcast starting at 11:30 a.m. EDT. Click here to go to the site.