Yahoo aims for continuous experience across PC, mobile
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By Giselle Tsirulnik

July 29, 2009 , Mobile Marketer

Building on the newly unveiled Yahoo homepage announced last week, Yahoo Mobile has released a new homepage for a consistent branding experience between its online and mobile properties.

The new Yahoo Mobile homepage lets on-the-go consumers access their favorite content, services and Internet experiences. Additionally, the dramatic redesign of the mobile homepage (http://m.yahoo.com) and other key properties for the iPhone browser, delivers a highly-engaging mobile experience.

“Today’s device capabilities are unlocking the world of mobile innovation and as a result we’re able to develop more sophisticated services,” said Cory Pforzheimer, senior manager of corporate communications at Yahoo, Sunnyvale, CA. “Regardless of how powerful mobile devices become, companies like Yahoo have to focus on the consumer as the consumer experience and demand for robust services is the driving point behind mobile innovation.

“Users want access to the same content and services regardless of where they are and what screen they’re using,” he said. “With mobile, users have a different behavior and intent than they do on the PC, not to mention certain device limitations need to be considered. One cannot just port a PC experience to the mobile screen – it just doesn’t work.

“Our global mobile services are optimized for mobile–with a both local feel and language as well as the ability to run across hundreds of individual devices.”
Yahoo reaches nearly one out of every two mobile Internet users in the country - more than 34 million unique users per month.

Just like the new Yahoo.com, the new Yahoo mobile homepage empowers consumers to use their phone to get everything they want from across the Internet in one place.

“To the end user, the mobile phone is just another way to access the Web,” said Jason Taylor, vice president of mobile products at Usablenet, New York. “So, extending key features and functions from Web to mobile and providing the same branding and familiar navigation between the two is very important from a usability point of view.”

Usablenet is an expert in mobile site design. The company’s services enable brands to translate all existing Web site functionality to a full-featured mobile interface. Clients include Victoria’s Secret, Nissan, Infiniti and Sears.

Yahoo’s new PC-to-mobile sync is available on more than 400 devices in 17 countries, and is expected to rollout to additional markets and devices in the near future.

The dramatic iPhone redesign of the mobile homepage includes three tabs - Today, My Favorites and All Sites - pulling together all of the services people use across the Web into a single mobile experience.

Consumers can update Facebook or Twitter, read the latest headlines, RSS feeds, stock quotes and sports scores.

The All Sites tab provides more than a dozen mobile-optimized Yahoo services like the brand new Yahoo Local, where they can discover local news, weather, and search results as well as nearby food, theatres, events, gas, or even get maps and driving directions based on their current location.

The new sites and functionality are available initially on the iPhone Safari browser in 17 countries. In the coming future we expect to rollout to the experience to additional countries and devices.

Yahoo Mobile will feature display advertising from leading brands.

Yahoo is focused on creating scale for advertisers by helping them reach their target audience wherever they are.

“The experience needs to be familiar to the user regardless of how they access Internet services, but you cannot present the exact PC experience on mobile,” Mr. Pforzheimer said. “We deliver a highly engaging consumer experience bringing the best of the content and services you know on the PC to an experience optimized for mobile.

“There are many advertisers that are going mobile for the first time – and turning to Yahoo to navigate the emerging market,” he said. “As we offer consumers an engaging and compelling mobile Internet experience, we are making it possible for brands to easily reach their target customers wherever they are, seamlessly following them from the PC to the mobile Internet.”

Associate Editor Giselle Tsirulnik covers ad networks, advertising, content, email, media, messaging, legal/privacy, search, social networks, television and video. Reach her at giselle @mobilemarketer.com.