Free Lesson Plans for Teachers: Yahoo

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Free Lesson Plans for Teachers
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Yahoo
April 18, 2007

The Washington Post is running an article entitled, "Waiting on New Ad
Program, Yahoo's Profit Drops 11%." The article begins, "Yahoo's first-
quarter profit fell 11 percent from the comparable quarter a year earlier,
disappointing investors who had hoped to see some early progress from
the firm's new advertising program, Panama."

According to the article, Yahoo chief executive, Terry S. Semel
"responded to last week's announcement that Google plans to purchase
Internet advertising company DoubleClick. Yahoo has been a leader in
online display advertising and Semel said Google's proposed acquisition
'certainly does validate Yahoo's strategy for the past few years. . . .
Fundamentally, I think competition benefits consumers and the whole
industry.'"

Unlike Google, both Yahoo and DoubleClick have promoted affiliate
advertising, in which website owners profit when individuals purchase
products by clicking on advertisements.

Read the Article!!

Discussion-Starters for Younger Children

Ask your students what it means to search for something. How
do they feel when they can't find something for which they are
looking? Why? Can your students think of any ways to keep
something, which is usually messy, organized?

Consider asking students to help you reorganize a part of
the classroom. Students could also reorganize their
desks/cubbies.

Do your students think it's easier to find something on the
computer/on the Internet or in their house? Why?

Consider asking students to make a list of steps they take
when trying to find something in their house. What steps
do they take when trying to find something on the Internet?

If your students could set up any kind of on-line business (any
kind of way to make money online), what would they set up?
Why? (Note: Think of this as an online lemonade stand.)

Consider asking students to develop mock "businesses" in
groups of two or three. They could develop a poster for
their business. If they have access to computers, consider
using a drawing program for these posters.

If your students could design their own home- page for the
computer, what would they put on it? (Note: The home-page is
the first page that somebody sees when he/she opens an Internet
browser.) Your students might put up links to games, music,
information about television programs, etc. Encourage your
child(ren) to be specific? What games?

Students could develop their own home page. If it's
possible to do this on the computer, great!! If not, they
could use construction paper.

Discussion-Starters for Older Students

Vocabulary terms to discuss: "First Quarter"; Revenue; Inflating;
and, Acquisition.

Pose: Imagine that the chief executive officers of Yahoo and/or
Google asked you how they could generate even more money for
their respective companies. How would you respond?

Consider asking students to write memos to one of these
executives. In a math class, students might be asked to
develop their proposals around meaningful numbers that
the executives should consider.

Pose: Imagine the year is 2015. Do you think that Yahoo will still
exist? Why/why not? How will it be different than what it is
today? Do you think that Google will still exist? Why/why not?
How will it be different than what it is today?

Students could develop a web portal of the future. If they
can't actually develop it, consider asking them to list its
various components.

The article reports on the price of a share of Yahoo stock. Why
might somebody be interested in knowing the price of a particular
stock, even if he/she had no plans to purchase the stock? Is it
important to pay attention to the prices of different goods and
services? Why/why not?

These questions could prompt an interesting class
discussion. Students could also be asked to identify the
prices of two or three products and explain what can be
learned from the prices. This might find this task easier if
they compare the price of the same product over time.

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