Business Insider says that Facebook is the new Yahoo! ...I disagree.

Some similarities for sure in any set of companies that skyrockets to a massive user base and corresponding corporate baggage. However, I was part of the Yahoo! Data Team and can tell you that Facebook is FAR more aggressive with data than we ever were.

The General Counsel of Yahoo! refused to let us tie browser and log-in cookie data, which would have given us better targeting on the 80% of users who weren’t logged in.

We wanted to personalize ads in Y! Mail way before Gmail– no because users said it was creepy.

We wanted to roll out conversion optimization well before AdWords, but it would have dented next quarter’s earnings. So no, even though it would have been a smart long-term decision.

Yahoo’s earnings are driven by a strong display sales team– arguably the best in the world. But the world has moved to self-serve. Facebook hasn’t dominated self-serve like Google, but they are making promising moves.

I’d love to see Facebook fix critical analytics bugs and roll out something stronger than Google Analytics. Never heard of Yahoo! Analytics? There is a reason for that.

I own no stock in either of these companies– just a guy who looks at things from the standpoint of the data and what we can do with it. I’ve never seen so much data available to marketers– so Facebook could win in this area if they can teach companies how to use it appropriately. What do you think? IS Facebook the new Yahoo!?

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations. You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel. You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.

Dennis Yu