Yahoo! is healthy, says social media head

12th June 2008

Yahoo!'s head of communities and communications has maintained the company's health and disclosed details of its future plans.

Speaking to the BBC, Brad Garlinghouse said that social media would be a key part of the search pioneer's advancement into the 21st century.

His comments came after Microsoft told Computerweekly that it has developed an internal social networking site that functions as a technology concept-testing tool.

Recent weeks have seen speculation in the press about Yahoo!'s future, after a prospective takeover deal with Microsoft collapsed in May.

Mr Garlinghouse maintained that the company was in a "very healthy position" and that rumours of its demise had been exaggerated.

It was developing plans to enrich its mail component with news feeds and similar social networking features, he said.

"We feel like we want all of Yahoo! to be more social; how to bring people to the core of the experience," the executive told the news provider.