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Will disdainful investors feel the same way?

CEO and co-founder Jerry Yang told the All Things D audience he's the best person to run Yahoo today.

Though Yang said at the All Things D conference he bleeds purple, investors have been the ones witnessing a bleeding of the green over the past two years. Until Microsoft woke people up with an unsolicited bid for Yahoo, the stock sat at a low after a two-year decline.

So why should Yahoo's investors trust Yang and company president Sue Decker since they've been the ones overseeing Yahoo's decline, Kara Swisher asked him via video:

Yang: I’m the best person to run Yahoo, not just because I bleed purple, but because I see great potential in the company. It’s my time to take Yahoo to the next level.

Yang says Yahoo has some new idea that’s going to take search advertising to the next level (Could it be Google’s?). Yang says Yahoo needs to make some investment to make this happen. We’re seeing some results already, but there’s a lot more work to be done.

Apparently, the way in which Yang plans to transform the Yahoo experience will make it very powerful and successful. (Sadly, he doesn’t really offer any details. Again, he notes that no one is writing about these plans, because they’re all too focused on the Microsoft debacle. Yet, he offers nothing to write about. 'Yahoo’s got a lot of potential' ain’t a business model – unless all that purple blood you claim to bleed is rushing to your head.)

That lack of details won't help Yahoo as it faces shareholder lawsuits as well as a new takeover effort by investor Carl Icahn, in the wake of the collapse of negotiations with Microsoft. Yang blamed Microsoft for walking away from the table, something Icahn wants to reverse if possible.

Though much has been made about a possible deal with Google regarding search advertising, Yahoo's best bet may come from the display ad business that performed well until financial and automotive advertisers scaled back their spending.

Decker claimed Yahoo will regain some of its display ad strength, by monetizing the outlet better. We have to wonder if such a tweak can overcome the weakness overall in financial (due to the housing crisis) and automotive (sky-high gas prices) spending these days.