Yahoo aiming to reinvigorate online offering for advertisers and users

 
 
 
Tuesday, September 21 2010 by Catherine Ferguson

Yahoo is hoping to reinvigorate its role in the modern world of managed pay per click and internet search.

The fading search giant has not fared well recently, with research by Nielsen indicating that Microsoft's Bing has overtaken it to become the second-most popular search engine in the US.

Google's ongoing dominance across search and social media has left Yahoo somewhat in the shadows too, while the recent diversification of AOL's sites in a bid to improve website promotion is unlikely to have done the brand any good.

However, the company's new chief product officer, Blake Irving, has promised to turn around Yahoo's prospects as part of a three-year strategy.

Having been in the job for just over 100 days, Mr Irving has committed to making "fast" changes that will delight both customers and advertisers.

Part of this rollout of new tools and features has already been showcased, following a recent move that saw Yahoo effectively outsource queries at its web pages to the Bing search engine.

Now the internet firm hopes to further enhance its appeal to internet users - and by extension, advertisers - by building on its social media services.

Facebook updates and contact information can already be imported by Yahoo account holders, and the company also intends to integrate Twitter into its web pages to improve user accessability.

Mr Irving told news agency AFP recently: "The social networking game isn't over because we are going to integrate social websites.

"There is definitely a place that Yahoo can go based on the assets we have today and the technology."

Other changes that are set to arrive on Yahoo in the coming months include revamped ad formats, a Yahoo iPad and tablet app and faster email with an improved user interface.

No doubt internet consultants and search engine optimisation firms alike will be keeping a close eye on these developments to capitalise on any advertising advantages that may emerge as changes are rolled out.

Living Streams "Improving clients' profitability through better use of the internet".

URL - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11339276