July 16 marked Marissa Mayer’s one-year anniversary as CEO of Yahoo, a company that had looked like it was heading to its demise at the hands of rivals like Google (News - Alert). And although the company still appears to be struggling to find a wider user base and profit on advertisements, critical changes have been made that could set Yahoo up to make a turnaround within the next few years.

Some of the most noted changes to Yahoo under Mayer’s reign come in the form of the company’s culture. According to Peter Mika, a research scientist at Yahoo, Mayer’s onboarding has brought with it “incredible energy, incredible motivation.” Failed projects are now looked at as a sign that risks are being taken, which is hailed as an indicator that employees are being innovative. Additional changes in Yahoo’s culture include additional maternity and paternity leave for new parents and an overall lift in company morale.

The other major change that has caught the attention of many is Yahoo’s new policy on acquisitions. The company famously bought blogging site Tumblr for a little over $1 billion earlier this year, and has bought many other smaller sites in a more quiet fashion. These acquisitions highlight Mayer’s goal of increasing Yahoo’s user base.

The acquisition of Tumblr also provides the benefit of greatly increasing the number of people accessing Yahoo sites through mobile devices, which is another goal that Mayer has pushed the company towards, stating that “Yahoo's future is mobile, and we are now a mobile centric company.”

Despite major changes in the way the company is run, Yahoo has yet to see its revenue increase. Although its stock price has soared since Mayer became CEO, ad sales have been declining and Tumblr has yet to provide any financial benefits to the company. This isn’t particularly surprising however, as Yahoo had a long way to go to when Mayer took over, and as the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Whether or not the company will be able to fight its way back into a prominent role under its new leadership is something only time will tell.