Yahoo! said it plans to introduce a major overhaul of its Internet home page on Tuesday, as the firm strives to make itself more relevant to Web surfers and create new ways to sell advertising. The new homepage blends Yahoo’s collection of online content and products with popular social networking services like Facebook and Twitter, representing what a Yahoo official called the most “radical!” make-over of the site since its inception more than a decade ago.
“It is a sea change in the way we think about products, the way we think about users, and the way we think about our business,” says Yahoo Senior VP of Integrated Consumer Experience, Tapan Bhat said ahead of the announcement.
The new homepage comes as negotiations between Yahoo and Microsoft on a search and advertising partnership are regaining momentum. Yahoo, which is due to report its second quarter financial results on Tuesday, is facing increasing competition from Microsoft, following the release of Microsoft’s Bing Internet search engine in June.
Yahoo’s homepage, however, is one of the most visited pages on the Web, and among the most valuable of Yahoo assets. The homepage according to ComScore, had 330 million users worldwide in May.
According to Mr.Bhat, the new homepage is already available from Tuesday in the United Staes and in several other countries in the coming weeks, as a beta product that users can opt-in to receive.