Yahoo!
No company is more threatened by the online world's emerging new order than Yahoo!.
For starters, Google is seeking to become an overnight player in Yahoo!'s display ad market through its pending acquisition of ad serving firm DoubleClick. Google sought to buy DoubleClick in April and is waiting for regulatory approval.
If the deal clears in early 2008 -- as many market observers expect it to -- Yahoo! will have to contend with a new, powerful entrant into a market it had long considered its own.
But Yahoo! should also worry about
Microsoft(MSFT Quote - Cramer on MSFT - Stock Picks), which boosted its own efforts in the display market through its purchase of online ad company aQuantive in May.
In many ways, it's been a tough year for Yahoo!. The company has had to fend off two powerful competitors bent on encroaching on its bread-and-butter business.
In 2007, founder Jerry Yang took the CEO position at Yahoo! after the abrupt departure of Terry Semel. Yang has announced an ambitious plan to turn the company around, but that leaves a lot of balls in the air for Yahoo!
Despite bouts of euphoria -- shares surged more than 30% during the year -- Wall Street remains skeptical about Yahoo!. Shares are off more than 6% year to date.
Vishesh Kumar
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