Yahoo Finance has been revamped to bring it more in line with the rest of Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO)’s products, including more customization and an updated aesthetic. The online version will launch soon, but the iPhone app is ready to go with some long-awaited improvements, reports Chris Ciaccia in The Street, who seems to love the changes.
Yahoo Finance iPhone app update
Looks aside, the most important changes are how the app handles your preferences. It’s easier to bring up the stocks that you’re watching to see how they’re doing, and the app will issue user alerts depending on what stocks have been tagged. Users also have more control over the types of news that are sent to them, so they will get information that is personally relevant, not just stories that are important to the Yahoo Finance audience as a whole.
It seems that the web site and app were supposed to launch at the same time and that the web site got delayed, which tells you where the developers’ main focus has been. Wall Street has been rewarding IT companies that can prove they are managing the transition to a smartphone dominated market, and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) understands that. No doubt the company also understands that mobile advertising needs to be a big part of its corporate strategy over the next few years, and getting a foothold now will be important. Other financial news powerhouses like Bloomberg have already been offering personalized news feeds and easy access to current market prices, so Yahoo Finance needs to provide a product at least as useful.
Marissa Mayer revamping Yahoo’s image
Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) CEO Marissa Mayer was brought in last year to revamp Yahoo’s image (she’s credited with having played a big role in developing Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s brand), and considering the size of the company she’s made impressive progress. Aside from redesigning the logo and revamping how many of Yahoo’s websites function, she’s made big changes with company policy (famously ending telecommuting and increasing maternity leave), and bought Tumblr for $1.1 billion earlier this year in what has been a series of big IT acquisitions. After years of stagnating, Yahoo’s stock price has more than doubled since Mayer took the helm.
