If you’re surfing around on the internet, you might have seen the logo that says Verizon Media, but you may be wondering- what is Verizon Media, and is it connected to Verizon Wireless?
If so, keep reading to learn all you need to know about Verizon Media and the answers to all related questions!
What Is Verizon Media In [currentyear]?
Verizon Media is a multinational technology company that previously was under the name Oath. It was formed after Verizon acquired both Yahoo and AOL and Verizon Media acquired all Yahoo assets such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, and Yahoo Lifestyle. Verizon media supplies online services, digital media, and advertising to nearly 1 billion people worldwide as of [currentyear].
Do you want to know what other companies are part of Verizon Media and what type of business it is? If so, continue reading to find out even more about Verizon Media!
What Does Verizon Media Do?
Verizon Media replaced Oath in 2018 and provided online advertising, online services, software, and digital media to millions of people throughout the world.
Furthermore, Verizon Media had acquired AOL in 2015 and Yahoo Inc., in 2017, and merged those two brands under Oath, which was later renamed Verizon Media.
Most major Yahoo brands were a part of Verizon Media, including Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Lifestyle, and the new Yahoo app.
Is Verizon Media Different From Verizon?
Verizon Media is a different type of industry, but it’s one of the Verizon Communication brands, which means it’s the same company that provides cell phone, internet, and television services.
Therefore, Verizon Media is not different from Verizon, since Verizon Media is just a division of Verizon, even though they offer completely different services and products to customers.
What Kind of Company is Verizon Media?
Verizon Media is a multinational technology company, which is a little different from Verizon telecommunications, even though it’s the same company.
Additionally, Verizon Media focused on bringing entertainment, news, and more to millions of people and allowed them to find easy ways to connect and communicate with one another.
Where is Verizon Media Headquarters?
Verizon Media headquarters are located in Boston, Massachusetts.
How Many Customers Does Verizon Media Have?
Verizon Media had almost 900 million users each month as of early 2021, which considering Verizon Media took over Yahoo Inc., is not too difficult to imagine!
Who is the CEO of Verizon Media?
Guru Gowrappan served as the CEO of Verizon Media and was named CEO by Verizon. He was previously the COO and President of Oath.
Furthermore, as the incoming CEO of Verizon Media, Guru had to report to the CEO of Verizon at that time, Hans Vestberg.
Before this change, everything was run by Oath founder, Tim Armstrong, who had previously been the CEO of AOL.
Armstrong decided to stay long enough with Verizon to help advise Guru during the transition from Oath to Verizon Media.
What Sites Does Verizon Media Own?
Verizon Media-owned several websites, including all Yahoo websites such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance, and Yahoo Sports. Techcrunch and Engadget were also owned by Verizon Media.
Additionally, Verizon Media acquired AOL in 2015, and all associated AOL brands were then placed under Oath, which then turned into Verizon Media.
How Does Verizon Media Make Money?
Verizon Media made most of its money through the advertising side of the business, which included an advertising platform on the supply side.
Further, this meant that publishers could sell advertising space to various advertisers, and Verizon also had advertising functionality on the buying side.
Since Verizon Media owned the various Yahoo and AOL platforms, Verizon Media had multiple ways of supplying advertisements to both customers and buyers of those advertisements.
Who Would Buy Verizon Media?
Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm, acquired Verizon Media in May 2021 for $5 billion, which was only about half of what Verizon paid for Yahoo.
Subsequently, the deal was finalized in late September 2021, which then meant the name would change once again and is now called Yahoo without the exclamation point.
However, Verizon still has a 10% stake in Yahoo, so Verizon is not completely out of the business.
Why Did Verizon Sell Verizon Media?
Verizon sold Verizon Media to Apollo Global Management because Verizon wanted to bring the focus back to wireless communications and the internet provider industry.
For example, before selling Verizon Media, the company had closed down certain sites such as Yahoo Answers and Tumblr. Neither of those sites was generating much traffic for Verizon.
In the year before, Verizon decided to sell off HuffPost to BuzzFeed, so some speculation was happening at the time that Verizon was about to get out of that part of the business.
Furthermore, it appears that Verizon Media wasn’t making the kind of money Verizon thought it would, so the company chose to cut its losses.
What Was Verizon’s Vision for Yahoo & AOL?
Verizon had originally envisioned that the merger of Yahoo and AOL into Oath would be able to compete with both Facebook and Google in terms of advertising.
Verizon’s goal was to make Verizon Media bigger than both Google and Facebook and earn more revenue than both in advertising, which is a tall order for any company.
However, Oath was no match to the advertising monsters that are Facebook and Google, and Oath quickly ended up flailing under Armstrong.
Afterward, it was then rebranded to Verizon Media and Armstrong left the company.
Will Verizon Media Buy Back Yahoo in the Future?
Currently, it doesn’t appear that Verizon has any interest in pursuing Apollo Global Management to re-purchase the Yahoo platforms.
Likewise, there is no word of the Apollo Management Group looking to sell off Yahoo, although it’s possible in the future that Apollo will want to sell.
However, if Apollo Management does try to offload Yahoo in the future, it’s doubtful that Verizon will be the first to make an offer to buy the properties.
Will Verizon Get Back into Online Advertising like Verizon Media?
While we don’t know what the future holds in most aspects of life, it appears that Verizon is content with focusing on its wireless market and internet service.
Therefore, we can only assume that Verizon will continue to focus on telecommunications instead of digital properties and abandon the online advertising dreams of being like Google.
To learn more, you can also see our posts on what is Verizon Connect, what is Verizon FIOS, and where can I pay Verizon bills.
Conclusion
Verizon Media was a division of Verizon that focused on digital properties including the acquisition of AOL and Yahoo and all related brands and provided advertising services.
Similarly, Verizon Media formed from the merger of AOL and Yahoo brands, which was previously known as Oath.
