Yahoo has announced that it’s making an exit from South Korea. In a statement Friday, the company acknowledged its Korean presence “has been faced with a lot of challenges and has slowed Yahoo’s overall business growth for the past few years.” It expects to shutter its Seoul office — which houses approximately 200 employees — by the end of the year.
Yahoo to exit South Korea by end of 2012 after years of underwhelming performance
The departure comes as a new executive team led by CEO Marissa Mayer attempts to revitalize the faltering web brand in the wake of soaring successes enjoyed by competitors Google and Facebook. Yet it was ultimately stiff competition from local search portals that prompted the company to rethink (and eventually abort) its Korean strategy. It’s estimated that Yahoo Korea currently accounts for a paltry 1.5% of web search marketshare in the country, with regional businesses like Naver and Daum Communications Corporation outpacing the company by a wide margin.
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