Yahoo Execs Just Didn’t Want to Name Their Competition

It’s the rival that dare not speak its name.

At their annual analyst meeting here Thursday, Yahoo Inc. executives tried to reassure investors that a certain Internet search provider, soon to be bolstered by the most anticipated initial public offering in years, wouldn’t hurt business.

“We thrive on competition,” Chief Executive Terry Semel said.

But the company whose name has become a verb remained unspoken for nearly three hours. Yahoo seemed to find 10 to the 100th power ways to avoid boosting its competitor’s name recognition any higher.

In remarks that began at 8:30 a.m., Yahoo managers referred to their rival in Mountain View, Calif., as “the leading search engine,” “the competition” and one of “two global players” in search.

Senior Vice President Jeff Weiner said CNN.com had switched to Yahoo’s search engine the day before. From which? “I can’t remember.”

Even analysts got in on the game. “How do you get Yahoo to be as synonymous with search as that company that starts with a ‘G’?” asked SoundView Technology Group’s Jordan Rohan.

Finally, at 11:04 a.m., Weiner uttered the word, but only in passing: “Google.”