Analysts are predicting that search engine Yahoo! will report an eighth straight quarter of declining profits today.The company is generating 49 cents a share, compared to $5.57 for Google, Bloomberg reports.
The results of a Bloomberg survey of 22 analysts revealed that the average estimate for fourth-quarter net income at Yahoo! fell 42 per cent to $155.8 million, or 11 cents a share.
According to the news service, Yahoo!'s investments in online advertising - which make up most of its $6.5 billion in annual sales - have "failed to stem market share losses to Google".
Additionally, a lack of money may see chief executive officer of Yahoo! Jerry Yang's plan to bolster sales by offering services for phones and social networking sites fall through.
Jeffrey Lindsay, an analyst at US financial management firm Sanford C Bernstein & Co, stated that financing options for acquisitions and technology spending are limited, giving rival Google an edge as the market moves into mobile phone advertising, internet video and social networking.
He commented: "It's putting Yahoo! at greater risk of irrelevance. [Yahoo!] just isn't generating anything like the resources [it needs] to really stay in the game."
Reports last week indicated that the struggling search engine provider is planning to cut in the region of 700 of its 14,000 jobs as part of an attempt to reverse its declining fortunes.
