Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer just put up a blog post announcing a "new, more modern" Yahoo.
It's her long-expected, this-time-it's-official update to the Yahoo homepage She says the page is more personal.
Features:
- "A newsfeed with infinite scroll."
- "You can log in with your Yahoo! or Facebook ID to get articles from thousands of news sources as well as those shared by your friends."
- New applications, like a list of your Facebook friends' birthdays.
- Refreshed "Yahoo! editorial features."
- The list of popular searches of the moment has a "refreshed" look.
- It's faster.
- It's optimized for tablets and smartphones.
- The business goal for the new homepage is simple: Yahoo needs to grow its userbase, and it needs all of it users to spend more time on the site.
At a Goldman Sach's conference in San Francisco last week, Mayer put it this way: "I'm not confused, our biggest problem right now is impressions. We're growing prices, we need to grow usage."
Here is Mayer's entire blog post:
Yahoo! first began as Jerry and Dave’s Guide to the World Wide Web, a directory of links created to help organize the Internet during its very early days. That simple directory evolved through the years into the Yahoo! we know today -- a starting point for your daily habits. Whether checking the latest news, sports scores, or just searching, Yahoo! has always been about bringing you the very best of the web. And, today, we’re introducing a new, more modern experience to do just that.
Designed to be more intuitive and personal, the new Yahoo! experience is all about your interests and preferences. Since streams of information have become the paradigm of choice on the web, we’re introducing a newsfeed with infinite scroll, letting you experience a virtually endless feed of news articles. Whether you are a sports fanatic or entertainment buff, you can easily customize your newsfeed to your interests. And, to make Yahoo! even more social, you can log in with your Yahoo! or Facebook ID to get articles from thousands of news sources as well as those shared by your friends.
Because you come to Yahoo! everyday for must-know information, we’ve also introduced newly designed applications. From your local weather forecast to Facebook friends’ birthdays, you’ll always have the information you need. We’ve also refreshed some of what you love most -- including our Yahoo! editorial features, and the daily snapshot into popular trending web searches.
The new Yahoo! experience works well on the go -- we’ve optimized it for smartphones and tablets. And, thanks to some under-the-hood improvements, Yahoo! is also faster.
Here's a more detailed blog post from Mike Kearns, Yahoo VP of product::
If you’ve had a chance to visit Yahoo! today, you may have noticed a few changes. We’ve launched a fresh, dynamic and personalized Yahoo! experience that brings you relevant content even faster. It’s now easier for you to get your daily dose of weather, stock quotes, sports scores, and more. These changes are just the first step in making Yahoo! personalized, and the more you visit Yahoo!, the better it will become. Below are a few top tips on how to get the most out of the new Yahoo!.
Get personal, sign-in
To view more personally relevant content in the newsfeed, just sign in with your Yahoo! or Facebook ID in the upper right corner of your screen.
Filter your newsfeed.
The newsfeed defaults to a "blend" of story types, but also allows you to filter your view through a handful of popular categories, such as news, local, entertainment and sports. For additional choices in the newsfeed filter, just click the “More” button to choose from other categories that interest you like business, technology, politics or science. If you want to see fewer stories about a particular topic in the future, hover your cursor to the right of the story and click on the “X” button. And remember, the more feedback you provide, the more personalized and relevant your experience will be.
Share your favorite content from Yahoo!.
In addition to seeing news stories that your friends have read and shared, you can easily share with them. When you come across a news item that you’d like to share, hover over it to view a button that allows you to share the story via email, Facebook, or Twitter.
Reach the bottom of the page? Quickly navigate back up to the top.
If you’ve scrolled far down and want to head back to the top, click on the handy back-to-top arrow in the lower right-hand corner of your screen to be taken back to the top of your Yahoo!.
Check out weather, sports, stocks and more with new applications.
There are seven new applications on the right side of the screen to connect you with information you view everyday, like weather, stocks, sports, friends’ birthdays, horoscopes, Flickr photos and popular videos from Yahoo!. To personalize the applications, simply hover over the upper right side to click on the gears icon. For example, getting ready for March Madness? Add your favorite teams to the Sports application to catch up on the latest scores. Keeping an eye on your investments? To view stock quotes, click on the gears icon in the Quotes application to integrate your portfolio, look up quotes, or add new stocks. Travel often? Add as many cities as you’d like to the Weather application.
Customize your applications.
To remove a particular application, click the “x” button in the upper right corner of the application box. Change your mind? You can add them all back by selecting “Restore all” in the area where the applications used to be displayed.
Never forget a birthday.
If you’ve signed into Yahoo! via Facebook, the Birthday application offers an easy way to be reminded of upcoming birthdays from your circle of friends.
View the latest Flickr photos.
If you love photos, you can customize the Flickr application to display photos taken by the people you’re following. If you don’t have a Flickr account or if you’re not signed into Yahoo!, you’ll be shown some of the most recent and most interesting photos on Flickr.
Simply visit yahoo.com on your tablet or mobile device, swipe through the “Today” stories to browse the freshest content. As you scroll down the newsfeed you can swipe left to take action on content. Find a story you like? Swipe left to share it. You also can swipe left to experience the different applications.
The best way to learn your way around the new Yahoo! is by checking it out yourself. Visit Yahoo! today to see what’s new!
