Verizon bought Yahoo to compete in mobile video

Verizon has been making the news quite frequently as of late. Its ambitions to grow beyond just a carrier started a year ago when it agreed to buy AOL in a massive $4.4 billion deal, and it was just yesterday that it officially announced its plans to acquire Yahoo for $4.8 billion.

[related_videos title=”Top Phones of 2016:” align=”left” type=”custom” videos=”705570,704852,699870,686764,684693,679646″]Well, it seems as though these billion dollar deals may all be a part of Verizon’s elaborate plan to take on Facebook and Google in mobile video. It’s no exaggeration that a huge part of our mobile usage comprises of mobile video consumption. I mean, who doesn’t appreciate a cute video of a kitten slapping a corgi while scrolling through Facebook?

During an earnings call today, Verizon announced that 2016 would be a transitional year for the US carrier. Now, you may be asking, “Transitioning into what?” According to Verizon’s CEO, Lowell McAdam, there is a dramatic shift in the way young customers access their video content, and Verizon plans to transition into a company that will accommodate this changing dynamic.

With AOL and now Yahoo under its sleeves, Verizon may be getting closer to that goal. For many millennials out there, AOL and Yahoo may sound unfamiliar, but you probably use Yahoo’s products such as Tumblr and Flickr without even knowing that they are owned by Yahoo.

Although McAdam’s vision of becoming one of the top three players in the realm of mobile video products may not be such a far-fetched idea, he remains cautious in his forecast:

Are we going to challenge Facebook and Google? The market is going to grow dramatically. If we take more than our fair share of this growth, then this will be a great success for us.

There’s no telling whether Verizon’s plan to grow beyond its carrier identity will bear fruit, but all this is not to say that Verizon’s focus will be shifting away from mobile telecommunications; it is simply expanding. After all, Verizon was the first US carrier to announce its 5G radio specification.

Do you think Verizon will be able to compete with Google and Facebook in mobile video? Let us know what you think in the comments below!