We’re not sure what exactly investors are expecting to hear from Yahoo! Inc. CEO Jerry Yang following his 100^th day in office next month, though we doubt anyone expects him to come up with something that would make us forget about Google Inc. Seeking to defuse speculation that some big announcement with streamers and confetti is being planned, “people familiar with the matter” told The Wall Street Journal that a major overhaul appears unlikely.

The article does say that Yahoo! will not be outsourcing its search business to Google. Some company followers have pushed for Yahoo! to do this as a way to sharply improve its search revenues, since Google generates much more for consumer searches than Yahoo!.

Yes, Yang is responsible for getting hopes up for some kind of substantial announcement when he said in July he would spend the next 100 days coming up with a fresh strategic plan for the company. But what he probably wasn’t counting on was Kara Swisher writing about what she thought Yahoo! should do ad nauseam in her BoomTown blog, creating outsized expectations.

We like the small moves Yahoo! has made so far under Yang, including last week’s acquisition of behavioral advertising firm BlueLithium Inc. Sometimes lost in shuffle of Google’s dominance in search is how well Yahoo! dominates in online display advertising.  Whether that dominance is enough for shareholders remains to be seen. —David Shabelman

See Sept. 10 story in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
See Sept. 5 story in TheDeal.com
See June 19 story in TheDeal.com

Tags: Yahoo