We've discussed at length how Verizon bought AOL and Yahoo because it wants to pivot toward Internet advertising and content, a response to slowing net additions in wireless and wired broadband. But a core part of Verizon's plan, its Millennial-focused Go90 video service, has been a bit of a dud. After the platform failed to gain traction and dropped in both app store rankings Verizon was forced to admit last May it "over-hyped" the platform, with Wall Street analysts doubting the service could mount any real challenge to YouTube or other Millennial favorites.

Verizon got more bad news this week after advertising partners expressed disappointment with the service in a Wall Street Journal report.

Advertisers complain to the paper that "adoption has been slower than anticipated." And while previous Journal report have indicated that Verizon has been willing to spend big bucks on content, the ad industry has also stated they're generally unimpressed by Verizon's marketing for the service, which eliminates the Verizon name to distance it from the associations with boring old telephone companies.

“Go90 is a bit of a mystery,” one ad executive tells the Journal, justifying why his firm has yet to buy any ads on the app. "I don’t personally think another video app is the play for [Verizon],” he said. “I really haven’t seen a seen a unique offering with go90. It’s like YouTube but not as good."

Obviously Verizon can still have success in the online ad market if Go90 fails, but between Go90's struggles and the Sugar String incident, many are quite correctly wondering if Verizon really has the chops to achieve its goals. The company has eyed Google and Facebook's balance sheets with envy for years, but critics continue to wonder if the money spent on buying up old, failed 90s media brands wouldn't be better spent on improving the company's wireless and wired networks.