Despite losing ground against its search rivals Google and MSN in recent years, Yahoo plans to unveil changes to its free e-mail service and search results this fall in an attempt to revive its appeal to users.
“This fall, we’re making one of our most significant updates to Yahoo Search to provide new experiences on the search results page and across the Yahoo network,” blogged Kaushal Kurapati, director of product management, emerging markets, Yahoo Search.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company gave a sneak peek at some of the enhancements coming to Yahoo Search. According to Kurapati, Yahoo news searches will be more conveniently organized with videos, images, articles, and tweets on a single page.
This fall Yahoo will add so-called “visually compelling” Trending Now lists on Yahoo.com and across the Yahoo network, accompanied by slideshows. Officials said users will be able to browse through pictures from the entire Yahoo network without having to leave the search results page.
Over the next three years, Yahoo will be rolling out more changed in an attempt to give people more reasons to stay on Yahoo’s website for longer periods and reel in more revenue from advertisers clamoring to reach a more engaged audience.
The coming upgrades will be major steps toward “bringing cool back to Yahoo,” Blake Irving, who was hired as the company’s chief products officer in April, told the Associated Press.
Yahoo opened the market on Friday at $14.07 a share, dropping 13 cents from the previous day.
According to monthly data from comScore Inc., Google still sat comfortably atop Web-search rankings, garnering 65.4 percent of U.S. core searches, down 0.4 percentage points from July. Meanwhile, Yahoo added 0.3 percentage points to its share of the market, bringing it to 17.1 percent. Microsoft Corp.’s Bing engine added 0.1 percentage point to its cut of the market, bringing its share to 17.1 percent.
Erin Harrison is Executive Editor, Strategic Initiatives, for TMC, where she oversees the company’s strategic editorial initiatives, including the launch of several new print and online initiatives. She plays an active role in the print publications and TechZone360, covering IP communications, information technology and other related topics. To read more of Erin's articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by
Stefania Viscusi