美国国家公共电台 NPR Yahoo And AOL Move In Together Under 'Oath,' Verizon's New Digital Arm

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

So there's a new brand on the Internet that is going to take over some of the old ones, I mean, I guess old in Internet years at least. Yahoo and AOL are now under an umbrella company called Oath. As NPR's Laura Sydell reports this new brand name has sparked more than a few jokes, but with more than a billion customers, there is potential here.

LAURA SYDELL, BYLINE¹: The tech press and the Twittersphere (ph) had some fun with the new name Oath - O-A-T-H. One critic pointed² out it sounded a lot like oaf, and another asked if oof (ph) was already taken. But AOL CEO, soon-to-be-Oath CEO Tim Armstrong, says consumers aren't really going to hear that name very much.

TIM ARMSTRONG: The Oath brand is a brand that stays behind the scenes. The real brands that we're going to be promoting are things like Yahoo, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, TechCrunch, Huffington Post.

SYDELL: Oath is the umbrella under which Yahoo and AOL will live. It's the result of Verizon's $4.5 billion acquisition of Yahoo which is merging³ with its AOL operations. Armstrong says users of Yahoo products will be able to keep using them, but they're probably going to see a lot more cross-promotion of content and brands owned by Verizon.

ARMSTRONG: As a consumer, you'll be more aware of the brands that we own because they'll marketed aggressively on a global basis.

SYDELL: Yahoo itself hasn't been able to really turn the popularity of its products into big money makers⁴. The question now is whether that can change under Oath and Verizon. Susan Etlinger, an analyst⁵ at Altimeter, says combining customer data from Yahoo, Verizon and AOL could make it more appealing to advertisers.

SUSAN ETLINGER: The big question in my mind is what is it that Verizon is going to bring to the table from a data point of view that's going to enable them to patch this together into some kind of really useful ad targeting force?

SYDELL: Congress just eased Internet privacy regulations. That would allow Verizon to share and profit from a lot of the information it gets about Yahoo users. But that is a mixed bag, says Etlinger, who spoke⁶ over Skype. She says revelations about a serious security breach⁷ at Yahoo already have consumers on edge.

ETLINGER: I think there's - they're going to have a huge burden of proof that they can be trusted with the kind of data that they are going to be using.

SYDELL: Trust us, says AOL CEO Armstrong, we've got your data and your back.

ARMSTRONG: From our standpoint, there's an investment that will be going into a much deeper level of security. And we've already greenlit that investment, and that - both at AOL is happening, as well as will be going into Yahoo.

SYDELL: And users will also be seeing changes in the company's approach to their privacy. For example, they may have to change passwords more frequently. And there could be new levels of security.

ARMSTRONG: Having a system that we use that allows consumers to understand, you know, how their individual actions, you know, affect the security and readiness of their accounts.

SYDELL: The breaches⁸ that happened at Yahoo came under its current CEO, Marissa Mayer, who's been there for four years. There's a lot of speculation⁹ as to Mayer's future. All Armstrong would say is that the new executive team will probably be announced late June. Meanwhile, Armstrong is going to be in charge of some old internet brands. He says he plans to infuse them with new life and new content.

ARMSTRONG: If you come use our products and services, we will offer you the fountain of youth.

SYDELL: Armstrong says that's an oath. Laura Sydell, NPR News.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

4 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

8 breaches   

破坏( breach的名词复数 )； 破裂； 缺口； 违背

参考例句：

• He imposed heavy penalties for breaches of oath or pledges. 他对违反誓言和保证的行为给予严厉的惩罚。
• This renders all breaches of morality before marriage very uncommon. 这样一来，婚前败坏道德的事就少见了。

9 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。