What is Oath? Verizon's Secret Media Empire
You may always correlate Verizon as a carrier that provides Internet and communication to users through 3G and 4G LTE plans. Typically ranked as one of the top telecommunications companies, Verizon has a large, strong customer base that allows it to compete effectively with other carriers, namely AT&T. However, whether you use Verizon or not, you may be unconsciously using one of its other services, namely Oath Inc. Say you want to catch up on the latest news; you go to Yahoo News. Or maybe catch up on your favorite stocks; you go to Yahoo Finance. Or maybe simply wanting to find the definition of a word; you use Yahoo Search. Or even send an email to someone regarding an important event; you use Yahoo Mail. Or catch up on the latest updates in sports; you use Yahoo Sports. All in all, Yahoo has a whole suite of relevant and beneficial tools that can promote productivity and learning. While it is no apparent and clear competitor to Google, wide audiences still utilize the platform due to its simple accessibility and simplicity. And Verizon owns it! Yes, Verizon owns a subsidiary called Oath, which also owns majority of Yahoo’s Internet business.
In fact, Oath Inc. owns many other small companies that are little known to the public but are successful due to their high usage rates. For example, Oath owns Techcrunch, which to many is a beneficial news source relevant to the technology industry. Additionally, Oath also possesses Engadget, a blog network committed to providing coverage regarding consumer electronics and gadgets. To add on, Oath is also the parent organization of the Huffington Post, a notorious blog network that provides news and opinions regarding culture and politics. With an authority over all of these media companies, Oath Inc has a potent presence over many markets and the general public, revealing Verizon’s strengths beyond just offering Internet services for your smartphones.
So how did Verizon’s secretive media empire start? It started like any other large successful company, initially beginning as a failure. Once upon a time, there was a small company named Control Video Corporation that relied on its service called GameLine, which downloaded games on the Atari video game console. Eventually, the company collapsed and was rebranded as Quantum Computer Services, with its service Q-Link which hosted multiplayer games for the owners of Commodore 64 computers and launched the first instant messaging program in 1989, most popular for its “you’ve got mail” line. However, the company expanded to eventually provide more online services, which in the future became offered under the rebranded company America Online in 1991. Abbreviated as AOL, it became a pioneer of the Internet era when it service involved a dial-up Internet access, a web portal, an e-mail platform, and eventually a web browser.
By 2000, AOL was U.S.’s largest Internet provider, valued at $125 billion. Greater revenue growth was predicted after its ambitious merger with Time Warner, but conflicts between the two companies hurt profits, and the pop of the dot-com bubble slashed the valuation of AOL from $226B to $20B. What was a pioneer of the Internet industry suffered a tumblous blow, which permanently slowed the company’s growth from then on. In 2006, the company laid off 40% of its workforce, and several executive positions were replaced. Nonetheless, AOL persistently continued its efforts to remain an authority in the Internet sector by acquiring TechCrunch and the Huffington Post, but the results were negligible. It achieved its greatest success from its advertising business, which appealed Verizon as its primary mobile market began to slow as new users became hard to attain as a result of increasing competition and business saturation. AOL’s powerful video advertising technologies were superior to that of Google and Facebook, and Verizon hoped that acquiring AOL would allow the company to enter a new industry in an Internet video service, beyond its traditional telecommunications. And so Verizon bought AOL for $4.4B in May 2015. For the same ambitions of creating a video strategy, Verizon acquired Yahoo to seize its large advertising and content business in the summer of 2017 for $4.48B. Eventually, Oath Inc was formed as Verizon’s subsidiary to own Yahoo and AOL.
It is likely that Verizon’s Internet service will continue to grow due to recent current events. On June 11, the FCC effectively repealed Net Neutrality, after voting to remove it on December 2017. But what actually is Net Neutrality? Initiated in 2015 during the Obama administration, Net Neutrality is a principle that prevents Internet service providers (ISPs), such as Verizon and Comcast, from blocking or discriminating content that flows through their cell towers. To say it in another way, these companies can not prevent or slow some services such as Netflix and require you to pay an additional fee to have content transported to you at a faster pace via fast lane. Think of it as paying a toll to use the fast lane on a highway. However, with Net Neutrality’s recent repeal, these dictates are now void, allowing some content to be blocked access to consumers or their connection being throttled. The Internet is now at the merciless hands of the ISPs. While Verizon claimed that it will not block any content, they refused to disclose their position on connection throttling and the use of fast lanes. So it is very possible that the company might start charging extra for a better connection and faster data transport, a service that many companies such as Netflix will pursue, consequently increasing Verizon’s revenue.
In fact, Oath Inc. owns many other small companies that are little known to the public but are successful due to their high usage rates. For example, Oath owns Techcrunch, which to many is a beneficial news source relevant to the technology industry. Additionally, Oath also possesses Engadget, a blog network committed to providing coverage regarding consumer electronics and gadgets. To add on, Oath is also the parent organization of the Huffington Post, a notorious blog network that provides news and opinions regarding culture and politics. With an authority over all of these media companies, Oath Inc has a potent presence over many markets and the general public, revealing Verizon’s strengths beyond just offering Internet services for your smartphones.
So how did Verizon’s secretive media empire start? It started like any other large successful company, initially beginning as a failure. Once upon a time, there was a small company named Control Video Corporation that relied on its service called GameLine, which downloaded games on the Atari video game console. Eventually, the company collapsed and was rebranded as Quantum Computer Services, with its service Q-Link which hosted multiplayer games for the owners of Commodore 64 computers and launched the first instant messaging program in 1989, most popular for its “you’ve got mail” line. However, the company expanded to eventually provide more online services, which in the future became offered under the rebranded company America Online in 1991. Abbreviated as AOL, it became a pioneer of the Internet era when it service involved a dial-up Internet access, a web portal, an e-mail platform, and eventually a web browser.
By 2000, AOL was U.S.’s largest Internet provider, valued at $125 billion. Greater revenue growth was predicted after its ambitious merger with Time Warner, but conflicts between the two companies hurt profits, and the pop of the dot-com bubble slashed the valuation of AOL from $226B to $20B. What was a pioneer of the Internet industry suffered a tumblous blow, which permanently slowed the company’s growth from then on. In 2006, the company laid off 40% of its workforce, and several executive positions were replaced. Nonetheless, AOL persistently continued its efforts to remain an authority in the Internet sector by acquiring TechCrunch and the Huffington Post, but the results were negligible. It achieved its greatest success from its advertising business, which appealed Verizon as its primary mobile market began to slow as new users became hard to attain as a result of increasing competition and business saturation. AOL’s powerful video advertising technologies were superior to that of Google and Facebook, and Verizon hoped that acquiring AOL would allow the company to enter a new industry in an Internet video service, beyond its traditional telecommunications. And so Verizon bought AOL for $4.4B in May 2015. For the same ambitions of creating a video strategy, Verizon acquired Yahoo to seize its large advertising and content business in the summer of 2017 for $4.48B. Eventually, Oath Inc was formed as Verizon’s subsidiary to own Yahoo and AOL.
It is likely that Verizon’s Internet service will continue to grow due to recent current events. On June 11, the FCC effectively repealed Net Neutrality, after voting to remove it on December 2017. But what actually is Net Neutrality? Initiated in 2015 during the Obama administration, Net Neutrality is a principle that prevents Internet service providers (ISPs), such as Verizon and Comcast, from blocking or discriminating content that flows through their cell towers. To say it in another way, these companies can not prevent or slow some services such as Netflix and require you to pay an additional fee to have content transported to you at a faster pace via fast lane. Think of it as paying a toll to use the fast lane on a highway. However, with Net Neutrality’s recent repeal, these dictates are now void, allowing some content to be blocked access to consumers or their connection being throttled. The Internet is now at the merciless hands of the ISPs. While Verizon claimed that it will not block any content, they refused to disclose their position on connection throttling and the use of fast lanes. So it is very possible that the company might start charging extra for a better connection and faster data transport, a service that many companies such as Netflix will pursue, consequently increasing Verizon’s revenue.
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