Verizon's Oath brand to be killed off in 2019

A week after disclosing a $4.6 billion writedown in the value of Oath, Verizon is officially ditching the brand for good. The wireless giant said on Tuesday that it is replacing the Oath brand with the more straightforward Verizon Media Group. It's an effort, the company said, to better align the media division as one of Verizon's core businesses. The name change will take effect on Jan. 8.

Also: Samsung, Verizon will partner on 5G smartphone CNET

As the face of Verizon's digital advertising business, the Oath brand emerged in 2017 from Verizon's AOL and Yahoo acquisitions.

The goal was to position Oath as a disruptor in digital, but increased competition and market pressures this year resulted in a different scenario, and revenues and earnings trended downward. Oath's ambiguous name probably didn't have a material impact on Verizon's financials, but it was confusing nonetheless.

Also: Verizon sees 5G as game changer for public safety TechRepublic

In addition to the writedown and rebranding, Verizon also announced recently that it was reorganizing into three business units revolving around consumer, business and Verizon Media Group/Oath. Verizon said the reorganization will be effective Jan. 1. 

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