Speaking during the Web 2.0 conference, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang said he told Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to relish their success. While his company and Google are in an escalating war to control the commercial search business, Yang still gave them kudos for making an impact on the Internet.
"I said to them, "I hope they enjoy it," because starting a company to this stage is a tribute to their vision and their leadership," Yang said. "To see what they"ve done is truly amazing."
Yang pointed out that one difference between the companies was that Google had more time to germinate before going public, while Yahoo went public a year after the company launched. In retrospect, Yang thought the company may have gone public too fast. Now with Yahoo three years out of its doldrums from the collapse of the dot-com bubble, Yang said the company is trying to look toward the horizon again.
"In the downturn when we were focusing on survival, we took our eyes off the emerging trends that were starting to take off," Yang added. "That"s something we learned never to do again."