Yahoo Redesigns App, Home Page To Foster Community, Drive Search

Yahoo began rolling out updates to its mobile application and home page Thursday. While the redesign focuses on content, continuity, personalization, social experience, and the ability to track stories of interest, the real focus remains on making site users feel they have a voice as part of a community. If successful, that community will drive up search queries and advertising.

Yahoo will attempt to create a community by allowing site visitors and app users to discover and carry out conversations around content and easily share it.

"With tens of millions of you sharing your views daily as part of our vibrant community, we want to amplify your voice," writes Simon Khalaf, SVP of publisher products at Yahoo. "We’ve made it easier for you to share your thoughts, engage and converse with each other about a particular topic or story."

The update renders comments directly in-line, making it easy to share and hear reactions from others in the "community."

Users can sift through more content in less time because there is no need to open individual articles in multiple browser tabs. Instead, the user will scroll through related stories inline.

The editors' picks at the top of the page highlight some of the most important stories, alongside the most relevant content.

For a more in-depth understanding of a story, see related stories by clicking the “heart” icon, or clicking through to find additional related stories below each article. The stream learns from the clicks.

Khalaf says mobile trends guided the redesign for the Web home page and iOS and Android apps.

In 2015, news and magazine apps usage alone grew 141%, per a Flurry trend report. Yahoo attributes the growth to an interest in discovering, consuming and engaging around great content from around the Web.

While changes should benefit those using the Web site or app, in turn those benefits should, in theory, produce higher profits for Yahoo. A Yahoo spokesperson says the update increases consumer engagement, which means more time for ads to be seen and engaged with while on the site. 

1 comment about "Yahoo Redesigns App, Home Page To Foster Community, Drive Search".
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  1. Terry Kibler from Retired, January 28, 2016 at 10:54 p.m.

    I am presently looking at the allegedly redesigned Yahoo Home Page and it is so confusing and indecipherable, as compared to what I was using on Wednesday night (January 27).
    It appears that the news content portion of the page (center of page) has slipped over to the right a bit, and the right hand portion of the page is now positioned on top of the news content portion of the page, to such an extent that it is like trying to read through one to get to the other.
    Worse part, though, is that I am now unable to do a web search. Every time I type in a search topic, then click on "Search Web," I get nothing, no action or indication that anything is even trying to happen.
    This was supposed to be a "new and imporved" system. I would truly be blessed if someone could re-enable my old system so that I could enjoy the benefits I am supposed to be paying for through my telephone/internet connection provided by AT&T at $75.00 a month. Benefits I was enjoying quite nicely on Wednesday, January 27.
    I went to bed and woke up Thursday morning, January 28, to a Brave New Order.
    Sincerely,
    Terry Kibler
    (559)738-9319
    terrydeltra@sbcglobal.net


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