Search engine giant Yahoo has reported a fourth-quarter loss of $303 million (£212m) after shrinking demand for online ads led to the company's first sales decline since 2001.
The loss company, which recently appointed a new CEO, made a profit of $205.7 million (£143m) with sales of $1.38 billion (£911m), down 2 per cent since 2007.
Carol Bartz, Yahoo's new chief executive, faces the challenge of reviving growth during a recession.
The company has lost internet-search customers to Google and sales are slowing for display advertising, such as banner ads.
Bartz took over from Jerry Yang, who stepped down after the rejection of a takeover offer from Microsoft angered investors last year.
Yahoo depends more heavily on display ads than search advertising, where Google leads.
Google handled 63.5 per cent of searches in December, while Yahoo had 20.5 per cent, according to ComScore data.
The display market should grow about 5 per cent this year, compared with 10 per cent growth for search ads. Last year, search ads grew 25 per cent, while the display market climbed 18 per cent.
AJR
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