• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, July 30, 2012

Just two weeks into the reign of Marissa Mayer, Web watchers are clambering to know what changes are afoot inside Yahoo. Yahoo observer-in-chief Kara Swisher was thrilled to learn that Mayer has added a Friday afternoon all-hands meeting and -- showing her Google roots -- instituted free meals at Yahoo’s Sunnyvale HQ.

“Just like it has been done at the search giant for eons,” Swisher exclaims in AllThingsD.

“They’re small changes, yes, but they’re likely to improve the morale of a company whose public image and internal image has deteriorated over the last seven years,” Mashable writes.

“A culture change at Yahoo will mean the smart, innovative workers will now get some attention, while the others will either unlock new potential or move on to somewhere similar to the old Yahoo,” suggests VentureBeat. “Either way, Mayer is definitely cultivating a new breed of Yahooers.”

What’s more, sources tell Swisher that Mayer is planning major design and organizational changes to Yahoo work environments -- all with an emphasis on collaboration and “cool.”

“In these moves, Mayer is apparently using Google as the model,” writes Marketing Land.

“However, product changes and upgrades are coming too,” Marking Land adds. “There will also be a range of new hires, with at least some key people coming from Google.”

Looking ahead, Swisher’s sources tell her to expect an acquisition or product-related announcement in the very near future.