by Natalie Jarvey
The telecom adds millions of eyeballs as it seeks content to avoid becoming a "dumb pipe."
On July 26, the morning after Verizon agreed to buy Yahoo for $4.8 billion, CEO Lowell McAdam announced that the company's catchphrase "Can you hear me now?" had become "Can you see me now?" It was a nod to how important video content has become for the telecom giant, which in the past year has bought or invested in a stable of media properties that includes AOL, AwesomenessTV and Complex. The deals are key to Verizon's plan to avoid obsolescence in an age when young people would rather Snapchat or watch YouTube videos than talk on the phone or switch on a TV.
It's a future in which Verizon's 113 million customers use their phones to open a Verizon app like streaming service go90 and watch videos produced or licensed by its media arm before they are directed to an ad placed using Verizon's intricate network of advertising technology products.