Yahoo!'s Panama: Little Engine That Couldn't

SAN FRANCISCO -- If Yahoo!'s(YHOO Quote) investment in its Panama advertising platform was meant to turn the company around, all it's done so far is keep it from sinking further.

The tech giant had looked to Panama as a game-changer, allowing it to better compete against its formidable search-advertising opponent, Google(GOOG Quote).

But more than a year after Panama's launch, not much has changed -- Google remains far ahead in the search industry in terms of its money-making abilities with advertising. And while Yahoo! has made gains with Panama, it hasn't been able to accelerate its search market share enough to instill any fear in Google. ...