I can't understand why I can't find any tech bloggers talking about Yahoo!'s re-designed homepage. I noticed it last weekend and have been waiting all week for someone to put together a post on it. It's possible that I'm one of the rare IP addresses who gets to see the page, but if Google did something this radical, it would be on top of Digg, Slashdot and probably the NYTimes to boot. Since when did Yahoo! become so unimportant?
I noticed that just today, Loren Baker put together a historical compilation of Yahoo!'s site over the past decade and somehow neglected todays update... The whole time I was reading the post, I thought - "could this really just be a coincidence?"
My personal opinion - it looks good and functions pretty well. My eye is still accustomed to looking on the right hand side for news, so the ads there are certainly getting my attention (I'm sure eye-tracking studies came in handy for them). The piece that's really off-putting for me is the "sign-in" to access services above the pink RAZR ad. The combination of those two is particularly unprofessional in its appearance.
The navigation bar on the left and the tabs inside the primary "news" section is quite good. It's considerably more readable and scannable than MSN's alternative. Nice work Yahoo! folks - I only hope the media starts paying as much attention to you as they do your competitor. It must be tough to be an "also-ran".
UPDATE: I found a few folks covering it, starting with Googlesystems way back in February and Neowin forums a month ago (but, unlike when Google adds any new word to a page, it, apparently, didn't rate a Digg).
The new Yahoo! Home page design is being rolled out to limited number of users for the purpose of collecting feedback. If your computer receives the privilege to see the new version (appears to be a lottery and only for IE browsers for now), the key to that ability is held in your browser cookies. Delete your cookies and you'll revert back to the original version.
https://yahoo.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/15/the-ne...
and regarding your other question: There's a widespread euphoria whenever Google flips a pixel (even when its to produce something a dozen others have already done and done better). And there's a perception that Yahoo! is the anti-Google. So Y! is currently losing in the PR arena.
Joe B yahoo.weblogsinc.com
Thanks, Joe. I appreciate your insight.
I dont see it as well (Jordan)
I don't see it in Firefox or IE. Maybe that's why nobody is talking about it Rand. Not everyone can see it. Good job on bringing it to our attention.
Yup -- I'm in DC and I just checked Yahoo. I am definitely not seeing what you are seeing.
Definitely lots of mixed reviews so far... The sign in is because when you roll over those areas below (mail, weather, etc), content is loaded right there on the page. For example, when you roll over mail, you can see the first couple of messages in your inbox, or when you roll over messenger you can see your buddy list in that same window. :)
I'm not seeing it here in St. George, Utah...
Guess it's not really something worth discussing too heavily until it's more publically available. Nothing to see here in Austria, on any browser. On the other hand, this almost seems like Yahoo's toying with viral marketing - creating a slow buzz, taunting us with occasional glimpses of their new design - and hoping for a surge in traffic when it's finally revealed for good.
I don't see it either (Los Angeles, CA), tried both FF and IE.
This has been on Digg but not on the main page. Yahoo has been rolling this out on a limited basis over the last few months to selected users, and it looks like you are one of them.
Right now they are testing several versions of the page for usabilty testing. They are all very similar, but slightly different. I'm sure when it officially launches there will be more noise about it.
It was on digg homepage
Cameron - good find! Apparently, the one I pointed out was a duplicate :)
Are they showing this to certain areas? I dont see it.
I still do not see it becuase they are in the testing mode and my input is obiously not needed :). I've heard that you can signup to be a tester of the new design, but getting picked is unlikely.
Have a look at https://yahoo.weblogsinc.com/2006/03/15/the-ne...
1 big reason.
Most Designers, techies, geeks, power users either use a) Firefox or b) Safari. Yahoo's homepage only shows up in Internet Explorer. I, like many other designers, only use IE to test websites, we never surf the web using IE. I found out about the redesign by accident looking over somebody else that uses IE.
I still get the old yahoo with both Firefox and IE.
Its a no-go for me up here in the Great White North as well.
I don’t see it either.
You can't find any tech bloggers talking about it? You didn't need to look any further than the #1 tech blog.
TechCrunch blogged on this a few days ago
You're right though, this didn't make near the splash that Google would've. I think Yahoo became so unimportant when Google went public.