Who says there are no free lunches in the world? Surely not newly appointed Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer! Just two weeks into her tenure as CEO, Mayer is gearing up to infuse some life into the beleaguered company and play savior. The winds of change are upon Yahoo as Mayer injects fresh hope by bringing about several Google-like operational changes - including free lunch.

The dwindling fate of Yahoo, which has battled stock slide for the last four years, rests in ex-Google employee Mayer's capable hands. In a bid to galvanize and revitalize the colorless Yahoo, Marissa Mayer is bringing about innumerable changes to the company's work environment.

Mayer brings to the Yahoo table some Google home truths, which have served the Mountain View-based company well in holding its supremacy. Mayer is transporting a whiff of Google culture to Yahoo with the introduction of free lunches at its URLs Café (currently, only in Silicon Valley). Previously, an egg white muffin sandwiches and teriyaki chicken Panini would have set back an employee by $3.65 and $5.31, respectively. Now, under Mayer, it's free. A weekly all-hands meeting on Friday afternoons is also on Mayer's agenda.

Such offerings have become standard at many Silicon Valley offices and are not specific to Google alone. The fact that Yahoo had lacked this benefit was perhaps a sore area for employees. Minor steps and changes, such as these, are likely to boost the morale of employees and give a fillip to their sagging spirits.

"It might be just a small thing, but people are thrilled," said one Yahoo employee.

Mayer is also sprucing up the clinical work environment and adding more pizazz to Yahoo interiors. According to Kara Swisher, Mayer is also planning "major changes" to workspaces "to make [them] more collaborative and cool". Swisher also said that "big splash tech or product deals... perhaps via an acquisition" may be announced "in the days ahead."

The ex-Google product guru - Mayer - is also touted to push product innovation. This move will mean a gamut of improved products from the Yahoo umbrella - email, Flickr, search, and ad-serving to name a few. The Yahoo brand still carries weightage, which is reflected in user consumption perception that rates well over the Internet Search Sector norm. Yahoo's key products like Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Answers, and of course its search engine, also make the company a force to reckon with in the search sector.

According to an unnamed source "This is the sound of Yahoo becoming a technology company again. It will be all about platforms and products."

Much has been written about Marissa Mayer, including her pregnancy, with many presaging her as a one-woman army; a powerhouse performer, who challenges the archetypal notions surrounding working women. Thirty-seven year old Marisaa Mayer is being touted is an exemplar for other women. With so much riding on her young shoulders, the fifth Yahoo CEO (in as many years) has her work cut out.

With woes galore in its kitty, Mayer is treading in murky waters and attempting to keep afloat a sinking ship. However, Mayer could take solace in the fact that it is possible for Internet companies to make a comeback. Case in point - e-Bay's resurgence.

We've seen a preview of what Mayer can do, but will she herald a new era for Yahoo? Will Mayer stay put as the CEO or be sacrificed at the altar like her predecessors? The question looms large and a peek at the crystal ball does not suffice. For now, Yahoo can rejoice, enjoy free lunch and wait and see what the future holds.