July 22, 2009

Yahoo's Carol Bartz used today's earnings statement to comment on the company's new web page redesign, which she called "most significant change in our home page since the company's inception

Bartz has spent the last six months travelling around Yahoo talking to staff and end users and this page is the product of those meetings. With Yahoo's future uncertain in the industry a lot will ride on whether users like the new page.

The first, and most obvious, change in the site is that it looks more modern. The feel of the page is a lot more up to date and the style has been altered slightly to make news more of a feature. Bartz today said news was a key use for the site and the redesign reflects that.

Search remains at the top of the home page but the most popular searches box has been moved up to the top of the page, presumably to drive traffic from idle clicks.

The biggest change comes in the use of the favourites bar on the left hand side of the page. Scrolling the mouse button over these opens an expanding window that covers the page, offering you the chance to view your favourite services like Facebook and Gmail and shift them up the favourites bar. It also has space for a banner ad and related links.