Yahoo Inc. is culling material from its website to create a mix of digital publications for computer tablets and other mobile devices, in its latest attempt to lure advertisers away from print and broadcast media.
The service, called Livestand, also will be open to other publishers looking for a way to connect with the tens of millions who are expected to own tablets such as Apple Inc.’s iPad by the end of this year. Livestand also will be available on smart phones.
Readers will be able to pick from a frequently updated assortment of content including news, sports, finance and other topics. Most of the content will be free, although Yahoo plans to allow publishers to sell subscriptions, too.
Although Yahoo previewed Livestand for reporters Thursday, it’s not available yet. Yahoo expects Livestand to debut by the end of June.
The “digital newsstand” is the latest bet that touch-screen tablets will deliver a new vein of revenue for publishers and other ad-driven businesses such as Yahoo. Apple is building a newsstand within its iTunes store, and began selling subscriptions last week to a daily newspaper called “The Daily” that News Corp. designed especially for the iPad. Google Inc. also is expected to encourage publishers to develop editions for tablets running on an upcoming version of its Android operating system.
The tablet audience is rapidly growing. Apple sold nearly 15 million iPads in just eight months last year and research firm Gartner Inc. expects 55 million tablets to be shipped by the end of this year. That estimate includes iPad alternatives running on operating systems made by Google, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Research in Motion Ltd.
With so many people embracing tablets, Yahoo is confident advertisers will be eager to pour more money into marketing campaigns tailored for the device.
“We see the tablet as a catalyst that will allow advertisers to shift dollars away from print, TV and radio,” said Blake Irving, Yahoo’s chief product officer.
If that turns out to be true, it could be another blow for newspapers. Despite efforts to harvest more revenue from websites and digital devices, newspapers still make most of their money from a steadily shrinking volume of print advertising. Total newspaper revenue from print ads has fallen by nearly 50 percent during the past five years, draining about $25 billion in annual revenue from the industry.
Yahoo already has forged a partnership with hundreds of U.S. newspapers to help them sell more online ads. The company, based in Sunnyvale, Calif, indicated it will also invite newspapers to sell editions and share in ad revenue on Livestand. Most major newspapers and magazines already have or are working on applications for tablets and smart phones.
Although it’s in better shape than most newspapers, Yahoo has been losing ground to Google and Facebook in the race of online advertising. In its most recent quarter, Yahoo’s ad revenue fell by 11 percent from the prior year while Google’s surged 26 percent. As a privately held company, Facebook doesn’t release its results, but documents recently distributed to its investors indicated its 2010 revenue was on pace to double from the prior year.
Livestand will make it easier for advertisers to target people more likely to be interested in their products and services because the product will collect information about users’ interests and whereabouts, according to Yahoo executives.
As it learns more about what individual users like to read, Livestand will show more material targeted to those interests.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More