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We've made great progress, but it's important for me to remind you, we've only just begun. This is an incredible medium adding enormous value to millions of people around the world, even though it's in the early stages of development. What inspires me is that the vast majority of the Internet's potential is still ahead. The good news is that as a result of the strong foundation Yahoo! has built and the clear path we have established for the Company's future, I believe we are in a great position to lead the growth and development of the Internet, while also working towards long-term, sustainable growth for Yahoo! and its shareholders.
Our strategy to continue taking the business forward is to leverage the power of the Yahoo! global network to create the most innovative, highest quality products for users and to provide the most efficient and effective marketing platform for businesses.
We will marry our distribution network with our content and services. While this is something you hear a lot about in the offline world, we think we have some unique advantages in the online world. I believe Yahoo! has the best distribution platform on the Web because of our large, active and loyal user base. And, of the large distribution platforms on the Web, I believe we are more effectively building products and services that take advantage of the unique attributes of the Internet, outside of communications services. As a result of pursuing this strategy, we expect to have greater leverage to enter new businesses and an ability to manage a broad portfolio of interests. Importantly, we are in a much better position to implement this strategy than we were 18 months or even 12 months ago because of the work we have done to move from agent to principal in select areas, such as personals, careers and search. Critical to the success of this strategy is our commitment to continually improve and build the best quality products and services for our users, and we can do this through the continual feedback loop we have as a result of their daily interaction with our network.
Of course, the key to any strategy lies in the strength of its execution. We have a number of priorities that we are going to focus on during 2003 to support this strategy.
Product quality. First and foremost, product quality will be the highest priority at Yahoo!. We will encourage a strong culture of innovation within the Company to create exciting new services, increase product relevancy and develop superior ease-of-use for both free and fee-based services. As we continue to enrich the consumer experience we expect to be able to build even deeper relationships with them, and we will use this as the basis to grow our business. This is one of the primary reasons we acquired Inktomi in March 2003. By owning our own algorithmic search capabilities we are in a much better position to develop an innovative, high quality search service and ensure the best possible consumer experience.
Network integration. By improving the level of integration between our different services we can set a deliberate path for users that gives them a deeper experience into our network and increases their level of engagement with Yahoo!.
Next generation tools, standards and formats. We will aim to continue to gain share of the overall pie of Internet advertising from traditional advertisers and small- and medium-sized businesses by leading the industry in developing creative programs and standards for formats in the industry.
Extend products and services globally. We will work to determine which products and services will be successful on a global basis or in particular countries. For example, our initiatives to improve our search product are global, and we are introducing some of our successful premium services, such as Yahoo! Personals, to international markets. In cases such as wireless, where European and Asian users are more sophisticated, we are developing services that appeal to those markets.
Identify key growth opportunities. Many of our initiatives are only one or two years old, so it's important that we continue to focus on developing and growing these further. In addition, we will continue to monitor the Internet landscape for additional growth opportunities. I am committed to ensuring we always evaluate new opportunities with a keen eye towards the appropriate balance between current and new business opportunities in a way that we expect will enable us to achieve our goals.
High performance organization. It's imperative that we continue to monitor the organization and ensure that our resources are aligned behind the right goals. We will manage with a disciplined approach by hiring in areas of strategic importance, while also carefully evaluating if resources are being used productively and consistently with our long-term goals.
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