Yahoo logo (Photo : Reuters)
Yahoo Inc.'s mission has always been to provide interesting and quality content, and it was the go-to home page even before search engines and social media existed, providing web links worth clicking on. While the business model of Yahoo Inc. has not changed, the results of its strategic plans for the "mobile first" market have been hit or miss.
During the past several years Yahoo has tried to break into the mobile market. That has been through expanding its product line and buying companies.
An example is Yahoo News Digest, which zips a day's top news stories like the original homepage did. However, a software algorithm results in more automatic updates.
The company has also launched several mobile apps that improve the way that people use their smartphones and tablets to read daily news and information.
Yahoo apps often have a look and feel that resemble other mobile platforms, such as Apple iOS and Google Android, according to Tech Crunch. However, they keep Yahoo's unique features.
For example, after Apple Watch hit the market, Yahoo Inc. announced that it would be launching a new batch of mobile apps worldwide, according to BidnessEtc. User feedback will have a big influence.
Several million gadget owners are accessing Yahoo content, which can attract several mobile advertisers. However, it provides a less precise target audience for online retailers.
Social media giants such as Facebook create some of the biggest competition for Yahoo. Users daily check their cellphones several times for many minutes, allowing advertisers to provide more content and earn bigger ad revenue.
Yahoo's number of users surged 400 million with its purchase of Tumblr. While this move boosted its content generation, it is still miles behind social networking companies such as Twitter in terms of the web traffic the brand name draws.
Yahoo's success rate should be weighted. Less than a few years ago it admitted that its revenue from mobile products was "not material." However, even with Yahoo's growing mobile market revenue, it will have difficulty competing with Google and Facebook before it launches its own smartphone platform, and focuses its advertising on specific content readers.
