Remember when Yahoo started to roll out its new homepage last summer? It’s been live for all users for about three months now, and today Yahoo’s annual Analyst Day, senior vice president Tapan Bhat gave an overview of how the redesigned homepage is performing. In the past three months, pageviews are up 9 percent, and time spent on the homepage is up 20 percent.
The whole focus of the redesign, and across Yahoo in general, says Bhat is to increase what he calls PageYield. The yield of a page on Yahoo is measure of how engaged consumers are with that page. (As opposed to PageRank, which is how Google scores pages on the Web in its search results). PageYield is a measure of how much time is spent on each Yahoo page and how many pageviews it gets, but also how much downstream traffic the page generates, and how often people come back.
Some of the big drivers of user engagement come from the ability to customize the homepage by adding applications and feeds from anywhere on the Web into the My Favorites column on the left-hand side. According to Yahoo consumer surveys, 75 percent of users love the applications area and 40 percent are using between 6 to 11 apps. Usage of that feature is up 8 percent over the past three months.
The other success story is the “Today” module on the homepage which targets news and other information to each user. Clickthrough rates on those stories are up a whopping 76 percent.
Simplifying the page has made it less cluttered and increased engagement with what’s left, which makes sense. The frontpage ad is also benefiting, seeing a 10 percent increase in clickthroughs since the redesign launched. Simpler is better. But Yahoo is still seeing a financial impact from reducing the number of total ads on that page.
double-digit growth on an already #1 page on the web is incredible.
This is impressive. Though personally, I still think its too cluttered. I only use center column (recent news) for a quick snapshot of what’s going on. All other Yahoo properties I still free type.
The double digit growth is not JUST about the redesign, its’ also about the huge campaign, them killing a big chunk of their business and having that traffic redirected, etc etc etc
All that means is people can NOT find where they want to go, and probably getting pissed off in the process
It would be impressive if the report said, click thru conversion rate for advertisers on Homepage was up 20%.
not everybody on the web is out searching for stuff all the time. so measuring effectiveness of pages by how short a time they’ve spent on them is basically drinking a certain kool-aid.
And measuring effectiveness of pages by how long a time they’ve spent on them is just drinking a different kind of kool-aid.
The same kool-aid that brand marketers drink.
I think what is important for Yahoo now is to regain the traffic and visitors that they are slowly losing to other web portals on the Internet.
Personally, I think that they have done a great job by trying to integrate other popular services on the homepage itself. I also find the homepage not as confusing as before.
One thing is true though, they need to start moving beyond their homepage after getting their visitors back.
Exactly what I was thinking. I can make Yahoo!’s users spend “more time on the the page since redesign” by changing the location of the search box. Does that mean anything?
I thought some sites (Google comes to mind) take pride in being able to deliver info asap to the user, hence getting him OUT of the site asap. Isn’t “time spent on a page” already an ancient concept that has proven not to work in terms of conversions? Or are we battling 10 year old knowledge still where we found that user loyalty is transient and speedy access to information (even if that means getting out fast) is the better longer-term strategy?
One reason why people spent more time on the new UI design is because people were trying to find stuff that used to be there in the old design whiich people were accustomed to
who knew a redesign could raise traffic lol. but that good for yahoo!
The increased time on the home page could be bad because a redesign means that things are moved around and people have to take more time to find them.
Simple facts can lead to erroneous conclusions. More information would be needed to back up the claim that more time spend on a page is good.
But at the end of the day, advertisers pay the bill.
And I guess they don’t mind if users are exposed longer to their ads…
Hope you aren’t forgetting that advertisers only come because people come. You can’t do injustice to the users since you want to earn ad money. It might work in the short term, but I’m sure Yahoo is not in it for the short term.
Yeah – that’s true for me, cause I can’t find the shyt I need on there anymore
Annoying as hell
You have to also take into account the ad blitz that they launched also. Some of that traffic is defiantly due to that.
because yahoo has killed 20% of their properties and pushed that content onto the top page
yahoo’s total pageviews are dropping relative to google, msft, facebook etc
whoop dedo, i thought i told you your quota for trolling was already met. Looking at what you just said, you claim yahoo kill 1/5 if their properties. What properties are you talking of? If they killed those properties, where would the content be coming from, and why would it be on the front page?
Again you need to make sound arguments for people to believe you my friend
Well the page takes 20 percent longer to load… so go figure. -1
Yahoo is back. Yahoo did in the last years a lot of new products and interesting things for developers. That’s the right direction.
check out the downside…
http://traffic....=yahoo.com&
I gave a grade C+ for the new design.
Of course, Andrew N., who the hell are you to hand out grades?
as a user (especially long term) we should be able to grade the site if we want
If anyone is thinking of applying for a job at Yahoo, please be aware of the new requirement: Indian Accent. Yes, you must be able to speak English with an Indian accent to survive at Yahoo.
Never fear however, as failure to Indian Accentize is not an automatic exclusion. Those less fortunate can take remedial measures by enrolling in Indian Accent Class.
For more information, visit http://www.Stro...ndianAccent.com
You are posting this on every page. We get the point. You don’t like Indians.
no, we just want our jobs back so we can pay our bills, meet obligations, keep our kids off the street, etc
Good point. There is at least one human face behind every job lost.
And I ask: why? Why is it necessary to import thousands and thousands of foreigners into our land to replace American workers? Are Americans really that incompetent?
Classic!! What a thought though, if one day….
Not that far off I suppose. I remember how my grandfather, who fought in WWII in the pacific, used to joke that, “if it weren’t for _______________, we’d all be speaking Japanese today.”
There definitely are no other Indian born engineers working at say, Google, Microsoft, or any other tech companies that isn’t staffed purely with morons.
What’s your accent – dumb white hick?
It’s nice to see TechCrunch allows for hate speech on their site. I’m sure your advertisers will want to know what you tolerate
That’s a pretty big leap in logic there Jay.
Tom, tell me where my logic is flawed and I’ll be happy to take back my statement. The person’s original comment was obviously playing on two ethnic stereotypes. 1) Indians have strong accents 2) Tech jobs like those at Yahoo! are only going to foreigners (in this case Indians).
The leap in logic comes from not only the first assumption, that it was “hate” speech, but also the second, which was the assumption that advertisers would shun such “speech.” What allows you to assume that advertisers have certain feelings on foreigners?
Clearly the issue of foreign laborers is a controversial one and it is a leap in logic to assume that any class of people, e.g., advertisers, would as a block have a particular stance.
Everyone has the right to free speech. That same right allows people to inform advertisers about the kind of speech on this site. Advertisers then have the right to pull their advertising if they so chose to. No one is forced to do anything.
To use words like “dark brown dude” and to make blanket statements like Yahoo only hires Indians is either sheer ignorance or purposeful hateful and discriminatory towards a certain ethnic group. What do you define as hate speech?
“You’re an overzealous PC moron”
would be one example. heh.. you’re too easy of a target
I’m glad you made yourself proud today Josh. The bell is ringing, so back to class for you
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This is akin to a grocery changing the store layout and saying people are spending more time shopping. Way to spin it, Yahoo!
ask your corner grocery shopkeeper. would he rather have customer spend more time or less time in his store. oh wait – nevermind. you might get lost in the store.
The site design is okay but the mouseover adverts are annoying. When you want to clink on a link their are to many obstructions. They should have also stuck with their other sites or buy Twitter.
3-column, left nav. Pretty standard. Looks like AOL used to.
yes and the email is now like gmail. Hideous frustrating interface. looking for a new provider
Did “My Yahoo” usage drop significantly?
Interesting that #6 on their Popular Searches is Net Neutrality. Do you really think that the 6th most popular search is Net Neutrality? Of course not. It’s a “plant” by Yahoo! to get people to click it and support Yahoo’s position.
Hmmm. That, or the fact that it’s a top story all over the news, specifically Google News, bc the FCC chairman proposed new rules yesterday:
http://news.goo...l=en&tab=wn
Nah, you’re probably right. It’s a yahoo search conspiracy.
Only 20%? Should’ve been 100%, cuz it takes me twice as long just trying to figure out where my usual links are on the redesigned page.
Now that’s a good PR/marketing strategy – great spin! While a lot of marketers read into the statistics and see possible factors for the 20% increase, its safe to say that most people that hear it will just take it at face value.
20% more time, of course… trying to figure out where to click
Time On Site may be up 20%, but according to Compete.com, Unique Visitors to Yahoo.com is down 4% since June (roughly 6 million people). Google.com was up 1.3% during that same stretch (about 2 million people).
Hey, unique visitors on michaelwiegand.com may have been up 400% at the same time (from just you to your mom, grandma, and that pervert who wants to do you). WTF does that mean, though?
Your use of percentages is ridiculous.
Yebol give your a homepage for each search like Yahoo!
http://www.yebo...%20Cameras.html
Yahoo is gotten better time I spend with it 45 seconds more thats almost a minute but honest its good its all good except search could be betta.
I like the old home page better. I like the old email box better. I cannot stand all those dark blue drop-down boxes that float up in my face asking me to do this, sign up for that, explore this, try that – they’re distractions that slow me up and slow my browsing down.
If Yahoo! is getting more page time it’s because they randomly toss you to reworked home pages after you’ve signed in and sometimes as you sign in – which disorients and confuses the masses.
It’s also because it takes three clicks – and three separate page loads – to get from sign-in to your Inbox – first you click the “mail” link which brings you to the sign-in page (why must there be a separate sign in page, anyway?).
Then you sign in and are brought to a page that has a link to your “Inbox”, but this page is, in fact, not your Inbox.
So you click on the Inbox link and are finally brought to your third page load which shows your Inbox. It is an in-fur-i-a-ting, time-consuming, needlessly wasteful process.
Yahoo is wasting everything on this convoluted sign-in game: user’s time, server power, HTML, JavaScript, user’s computer resources such as CPU and RAM, and so on. Seriously. It’s ridiculous. When AOL can nail down the sign-in process much more smoothly, yet Yahoo is the more successful company going by the numbers, that tells you something is indeed wrong.
yahoo WAS the better company but I bet as people find other options they will escape this new site. It is controlling, frustrating and time consuming as you said. I want the classic mail, not this sham of a classic mail and classic yahoo home page.
I am tired of yahoo trying to read my mind or guess my preferences because I did x today. I may have hit x by accident or as a suggestion from someone but that doesn’t mean I want anything to do with it bu you make me live with it because you have some data on me.
does anyone actually believe this? i’ve been to the site since the redesign and it’s still same old yahoo with a crap front page where it’s difficult to find what you want. thanks yahoo for the spin.
“I HATE IT AND WILL USE CLASSIC AS LONG AS POSSIBLE!!@!!”
If they get rid of classic yahoo I will have to get rid of yahoo period. I guess all good things come to an end. I have had a yahoo acount since 1995. Maybe this is yahoo’s way of telling me to move on.
exactly!
The Yahoo main page just added social/personal.
Anyone else thing their new ad campaign is the biggest nondescript pile of dog crap they’ve ever seen?
Sorry… typo… I meant think
you’re not the only one man. i saw the commercial once on tv and i had to do a mind wipe/purge because that yellow and that crap just made my bowels heave. f’n yahoo and their bs. i’m glad people are still buying their b.s. i used to have a yahoo since i could walk and talk and i finally gave it up after more than a decade plus, last year. the company i knew is no more.
I think the spike on pageviews is just temporary – just because the homepage is new – it strikes curiosity to a lot of people, btu eventually would die down. The Yahoo homepage AND services like mail has been crappy – mail search not working at all, can’t retrieve your old mails, takes a loooooooooooong time to view mail….
Gmail? hello!
Up to 20 percent? So instead of 2 seconds it’s 40 seconds? Yahoo must be very proud.
The idiots should open their gates to ALL users. OpenID, etc. are the magic words.
No one wants to register for a GodDamnLongYahooID28192@yahoo.com
Wake up, Yahoo… soon it’s really too late.
Good for yahoo!
Redesign isn’t an easy job, especially when it’s done under pressure. But the statistics has to take account of other factors such as unfamiliaraity.
Its funny that 10 years after the .com bubble burst, people are still discussing about how a web 1.0 company with web 1.0 ideas, design and thinking, manages to get a higher yield by just doing what they should be doing all along like very web 2.0 entity does: taking out the FAT and evolving.
Yahoo is proving every single day that it is the GM of the internet and will have the same fate at some point. No one wants to take the tubes out of an old-timer and let them die. So let me clarify something for everyone reading including Yahoo execs. 20% of SOMETHING inside a results-driven market of NOTHING is still NOTHING. But I guess these people like to entertain themselves by sharing numbers, charts and pointless statistics, instead of ASKING THEIR QUARTER OF A BILLION USERBASE what they would actually like to have as content, and how they would like to be served. Not to mention their crappy coded entities like the stupid popup in mail that never seems to want to save the preferences and stop scrolling up and down without asking.
It’s very funny that these people reluctantly don’t want to adapt. If they don’t evolve, they will parish, thats a fact of life. Same thing with MySpace and any other web stuck-ups (not startups).
So nothing new here. A stupid company managed by stupid people. Recipe for failure. Move along people. (before they too ask for a bailout).
Yahoo should follow the old internet’s GM’s (AOL) steps and spin off companies and entities, shut down more departments, and STOP hiring people with limited skills from 3rd world countries and focus on QUALITY like AOL does this days. By having a moronic Walmart/McDonals-style behavior that they will survive by the numbers, they WILL fail. Everytime a company lowers quality and hopes to make it by the numbers, suffers a poor customer services and serves CRAP. End of story. Wanna make more traffic and money? ASK YOUR USERS what they want and how they want it. ITs the difference between McDonals (standard menu of low quality junk) vs a fine 5 star restaurant (custom menu, cooking and serving).
At the end of the day, they decide if they want to be Hyundai or Ferrari. Last time I checked both were healthy but noone actually hangs a Huyndai, Skoda or Kia car poster in their room. You get the idea. Its a fundamental business practice with tons of example (swatch vs rolex, etc). You either go for volume and mediocrity or quality and respect. Only exception to the rule is the German auto industry that does both.
My guess is that when people are tired of the site, they will try a new site instead of yahoo. However, when you leave Yahoo and look for a new way of collecting daily news, you need to be active. However, how many people can stay as an active user. Not so many I bet. That’s why people would come back to yahoo for daily news as a passive user.
For that reason, yahoo will have steady user basis…
The page is very slow to load which is why user spend more time on the homepage. When I click on email, it took few seconds to load.
The reason more people are sending more time on yahoo is the clutter and trying to get to where you are going is like being any traffic jam. You and everyone else are spending more time in trafic and not getting to your destination. I’m looking for a better route and I believe everyone elae will be doing the same,
If enough users see the value of PageYield and have enough incentive to optimize their websites for Yahoo, PageYield can seriously bring back Yahoo in the game. See:
http://www.flow...com/blog/?p=313
How about showing us a statistic of how many actually like the new redesign? Or how much traffic is coming to the site? In fact, traffic has gone DOWN! http://traffic....oo.com&
Saying people spend 20% more time on the page is akin to Starbucks making a new coffee brand and noticing it’s customers take 20% more time to drink it. Not only is this information uninformative of the actual quality of the coffee, but it might actually prove the opposite, in that people aren’t drinking it because it’s terrible. If Starbucks really wanted to prove the quality of the coffee, they would need to poll people and see if they enjoy it. Or find out if people are purchasing it more often. This is what Yahoo needs to do with their homepage.
Working hard doesn’t necessarily prove results. Yahoo is probably in denial about this whole thing and desperately want people to like their homepage, but IT JUST DOESN’T WORK YAHOO! WAKE UP!