Yahoo’s core business model still thrives in 2025, with AI updates but the same focus on ads, subscriptions, and user-driven content.
Evanne Evans, 14 Jul 2025
The article published by Investopedia in 2015, How Yahoo Makes Money, was refreshed earlier this year, and it provided valuable insights into Yahoo's sustained profitability over the last 10 years. Through digital advertising, subscription services such as Yahoo Finance Premium, and efforts like email-driven commerce and immersive VR/AR content via Verizon Media/Apollo have helped the brand expand and diversify.
The original article remains relevant in today's economic climate for several key reasons. Firstly, even though Yahoo has evolved, its core revenue model for advertising, media content, and subscription services remains essentially the same.
The article provides foundational context that helps explain why Yahoo’s modern strategies like AI-driven news curation and finance tools still rely on display advertising, native content marketing and premium subscriptions.
Secondly, there is much to learn about the historical perspective of Yahoo for current competitor analysis. Investors, analysts, and tech historians often refer to Yahoo’s past business model to compare how tech companies pivot over time. This is especially relevant as Yahoo in 2025 tries to reinvent itself under Apollo Global Management ownership.
Thirdly, many forces outlined in the original article, such as the importance of user attention, ad impressions, and monetizing search traffic, are still central to Yahoo’s operations today, even with modern AI enhancements. Similarly, educators, business students, and startup founders often study Yahoo’s history as a case study of tech evolution, missed opportunities, and reinvention, and therefore, the 2015 article remains a go-to research document.
The article’s specific financial figures may be outdated. However, its strategic insights into Yahoo's monetization methods are still highly relevant in 2025, primarily as Yahoo doubles down on AI while maintaining ad-supported services.
