The Internet company Yahoo has relaunched its web portal with a 100 million U.S. dollar global advertising campaign. The new front page allows users to integrate third-party web services like Facebook or Hotmail into its portal, something which Yahoo hopes will help boost traffic and revenue.
When Yahoo announced its relaunch plans some analysts argued that many Internet users ignore such portals and instead use search engines to go directly to the web page they require. But Yahoo! insist many of its users start from their Yahoo! homepage making it an important platform to place advertising and help boost the company's falling profits.
"Frontpage adverts are incredibly powerful," said Yahoo's senior vice-president for Europe, Rich Riley, and can cost millions of dollars for a single day of global advertising. The new "customisable applications" allows users to see a snapshot of their favorite websites and services within the Yahoo portal. This they hope will attract more users.
"The [new] home page is a powerful way to get a view into your life on the Internet," said Mr Riley, quoting surveys that suggest that 60 percent of Yahoo users in the Britain want a single place to organize their life on the Internet.
Google already provide a similar such portal with its iGoogle homepage to which users may add RSS feeds and gadgets which can show everything from games to connections with social networking sites and email. Google's portal is also devoid of advertising, something which is attractive to many web users.
But Yahoo's Rich Riley is undaunted. "We expect more traffic, the number of unique users to go up... an increase in audience engagement and more repeat visits," which in turn will drive advertising income, he said. The 100 million dollar advertising campaign will focus on 10 key markets; the United States, the United Kingdom, India, France, Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Canada.
Yahoo's search engine has also been overhauled though it does not yet benefit from Microsoft's new search engine Bing. In July, Microsoft and Yahoo agreed a deal that would see Yahoo's websites use both Microsoft's search technology and search advertising. This is yet to be implemented however as it is subject to review by U.S. anti-trust regulators. It it does go ahead it will set the stage for a joint offensive against Google. The final decision on that is not expected before spring 2010.
During the three months to June, Yahoo made a mere 141 million dollars profit on revenues of 1.57 billion dollars. The website overhaul was instigated by new chief executive Carol Bartz who took over the company in January. Bartz, who replaced co-founder Jerry Yang, hopes the move will turn the company's profits around.
Source:Xinhua/Agencies
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