Yahoo: 9 reasons for the internet icon's decline

Icon of the early days of the world wide web, Yahoo announced that it is selling its core business to Verizon.

Until recently, the web portal and search engine had revenues higher than Twitter and LinkedIn, and its visitor numbers outstripped the likes of Amazon, Wikipedia and eBay. So what went wrong? 

Here are nine mistakes that contributed to the downfall of the early-internet darling:

Losing out on Google

In 2002, Yahoo had the opportunity to acquire Google when Sergey Brin and Larry Page said they would sell-up for $1 billion. But when Yahoo's then-chief executive Terry Semel eventually went back to the reluctant pair to accept the offer, they upped their price to $3 billion.

Paul Graham...