Just months after Marissa Mayer assumed her role as the new CEO in July, Yahoo decided the time was right to make a big change in the form of a completely new look. Yahoo now sports a new homepage that gives users a more personal and intuitive feel. The new homepage also features a news feed section that can be easily customised, enabling users to browse the latest news and articles.
Its most notable feature is an extensive scroll of stories recommended by friends on social networks as well as news feeds that cater to a user’s preferences. If you usually click on real estate stories, you will get more articles about properties and houses over time. Additionally, users can log in via Yahoo or Facebook so that they can customise content and share it with their friends.
According to Semil Shah, a mobile and start-up consultant, improving the homepage’s design was logically the next step for CEO Marissa Mayer. Millions still visit the company’s homepage each day, even though many users go to Yahoo’s content directly from search engines and social media recommendations.
“It’s a huge online property that a lot of people are still going to,” noted Shah.
Aside from providing a superior social experience and a richer glimpse of user interest, Yahoo’s improved homepage may also attract more advertisers. This is because brands are always on the lookout for ways to monetise personalisation and target their advertising.
In line with Mayer’s statement that her main priority for Yahoo is mobile devices, the new homepage can also be browsed easily through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
