According to a reliable source (who wants to remain anonymous), Philippine web-portal Yehey is being put up for sale by parent company iVantage Corp.
Yehey! Corp has slowing been veering away from the internet advertising model and gone into web development/web design, e-commerce (Kaban) and digital marketing, among others. Yehey’s biggest clients include San Miguel Corp., Isuzu, Ateneo De Manila and Procter and Gamble.
Apparently, the business model hasn’t really panned out for the team of about 90+ people at Yehey! and the current revenue isn’t anywhere near the earlier target of Php140 Million for 2009 {via GMANews}. They made Php71 Million in revenues last year.
Yehey! has also abandoned earlier plans of going public (first reported about the IPO last February 2007 as well as the comment from CEO Donald Lim).
At least one key executive has been “let go” and there’s big possibility more heads will roll. Unless the team can do some magic trick and hit the targets, Yehey’s biggest chance of survival is when it gets sold and infused with fresh capital.
Updates:
- In the first quarter of 2009, the firm reported a net loss of P7.4 million, from a net income of P2.4 million in the comparative period last year. In its 2008 annual filing, the firm reported a Php7 million net loss {Business Mirror}.
- In a July 7, 2009 story on Business Mirror, iVantage corporate secretary Bayani K. Tan said the company is “trying its best” to list by way of introduction in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE). In the comments, Nix Nolledo says Yehey has since been listed already. That might have only happened in the last 3 weeks.
- Yehey had a net loss of Php10.9 million in 2006. Revenues in 2007 was Php23.3 million and tripled it to Php71 Million in 2008 {via GMANews} but was still in the red by Php7 Million. Yehey has adjusted 2009 initial revenue projections from Php140 million in January to just Php80 to Php90 Million by July.
Twitter: sugodcom
says:
How about they try spending 30,000 a month for advertising on TV? Wow! Through this baka, may mga bago sila makukuhang customer.. Small & Medium size businesses.
i thought they were sort of an online ad and marketing agency? search engine din pala? they didn’t inform us about that hmmmm
I’m happy to see Yehey go away. It was a copycat website portal that offered no original or useful features. The search feature was awful. I am actually surprised they are still operating today.
may yehey pa pala…. akala ko, deads na yan years ago.
Yehey used to be one of my favorite websites in the past. Now I can’t even remember the last time I visited them. If only they were more aggressive in promotion and advertising.
Hey guys!
I used to work for Yehey! from 2002 up until the the time that it DID make its turn around in terms of revenue, but have since moved on to a similar career in a different company (so what I’m about to say isn’t the official word, so to speak).
Anyway, I agree with a lot of comments here… at the start Yehey! was a confused brand. Search engine? Portal? Online advertising agency? And with web channels and services coming up and down over the course of the years I was working there, I for one struggled to also find that one thing that would break the barrier and bring Yehey out of its rut.
In truth Yehey WAS a search portal. Localized content was its primary selling point at the time, until niche websites and blogs hit the mainstream. When that happened, (and content IS still king)… Yehey sorely lacked the needed ammunition to fight on.
But then came Donald Lim. And with his impressive background in marketing and advertising, and a new gameplan, Yehey! was no longer just a website, but a corporation… true it’s foundation was the website, Yehey.com, but Yehey! Corp is so much more…
Under its wing there is the very successful online marketing solutions team and the extremely creative geniuses behind a long list of local advertising and client websites (hence the millions in revenue). Yehey! Corp also adapted to the now very successful social media marketing platform which I was fortunate to be a part of in its infancy. Included here are your blog events, social media and viral marketing campaigns, and so on. And let’s not forget their already successful payment gateway, Kaban, resurrected from its former, confused self to a more trustworthy and highly reliable service. PinoyHenyo is also one of Yehey! Corp’s greatest achievements as of late, as well as their other projects now making waves in the webosphere, including Stir.ph and other niche websites.
Anyway, bottomline… Yehey.com–the website–is in trouble and has been for years, hence all the negative feedback from most people which is clearly obvious in the comments here.
But Yehey! Corp., which is the entity being discussed here, has been a highly successful player in the local internet scene and digital marketing landscape over the past few years.
I understand where most of you are coming from and yes I too share the same sentiments: Yehey.com needs a major overhaul to stay in the game.
But I repeat and strongly adhere to with much vigor (grabe na sa over ha? strongly na with much vigor…): YEHEY.COM IS NOT YEHEY! CORP… merely a part of the bigger whole.
And quite frankly, with the direction Donald has taken the company, they’re looking very profitable and could be a very delicious treat for potential investors.
I for one would love to buy, even a small piece if possible.
Haba pala reply ko… LOL. I will blog. =P
Geez..ginaya din pala nila ang yahoo answers. nakakahiya naman. :S