Yahoo 2003 Annual Report Download - page 3

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To Yahoo!’s Shareholders,
Users, Partners, Customers
and Employees:
When reviewing Yahoo!’s progress
over the past three years since I
joined, it’s clear that 2001 was our
transition year, 2002 the year in
which we started to plant the seeds
for growth, and 2003 the year
in which we began to reap the
initial results of our efforts, while
continuing to reinvest in the future.
I am very proud of the hard work,
dedication, and accomplishments
that Yahoo! employees throughout
the world have delivered.
While we made tremendous progress
in many financial metrics that are
extremely gratifying, what excites me
most about this past year is our
deepening relationships with our
users. Our No. 1 priority is to
provide the best experience on the
Internet. As the quality of our
products and services continues to
improve, the more relevant Yahoo!
becomes to our hundreds of
millions of users, who in turn are
spending more time on our network
and using a greater variety of
services. This accomplishment
supports my belief that great
products equal great business.
Our Company provides a
comprehensive marketing solutions
platform for advertisers as well as
premium products and services for
users and businesses. Within that
framework, Yahoo! has evolved from
an organization that relied on a
single revenue source dominated
by dot com advertisers, to an
organization with more diverse and
sustainable sources of revenue.
Through our premium services, we
have established direct paying
relationships with millions of users.
By establishing the world’s largest
engaged online audience and
providing a full range of services along
the online marketing continuum,
Yahoo! is supported by hundreds of
blue chip traditional advertisers and
thousands of small- and medium-sized
businesses who want to reach our
global audience. This well distributed
foundation helped contribute to make
2003 Yahoo!’s greatest revenue
producing year in its history.
Full year 2003 revenue was $1.6
billion, a 71 percent increase over
2002. We delivered record revenue
from one quarter to the next
throughout the year, reflecting the
growing diversity of our business and
the contributions from these newer,
more sustainable revenue sources.
Yahoo!’s balance sheet also grew
throughout the year to almost
$2.6 billion in cash and marketable
securities, after including the
$733 million raised through our
convertible debt offering, and despite
cash expenditures used for the
acquisitions of Inktomi Corporation
(“Inktomi”) and Overture Services,
Inc. (“Overture”). I encourage you to
read more about our financial results
in the materials which accompany,
and are a part of, this letter.
Great Products Equal
Great Business
Let’s spend some more time on that
one simple philosophy that has
always guided my approach: the
more we invest in what our users
want, the more they will invest in us.
In 2003, we spent the majority of our
investment dollars improving the
Terry Semel