With the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook and Myspace, portals like Google, and Yahoo have begun mounting a significant response. It’s no surprise that recent product releases and news reports indicate they hope to integrate their e-mail systems and personalized home page services (iGoogle and MyYahoo) with social networking tools and utilities in an effort to shift users back to the essential tools for online communication and information gathering (IM, email, and personal home page services) while satisfying user demand for social networking style integration of community and connectivity. As this shift takes place personal home page services such as My MSN, MyYaho!, and iGoogle become increasingly important as the central hub of activity for users.

In the case of My Yahoo! there is significant buzz around it’s latest personal home page but critics seem to feel that it doesn’t go far enough. Billing itself as a gateway to the user’s frequently visited pages in Yahoo! and the Web, we can agree that the latest version of My Yahoo! has taken a huge leap forward. User response to feature updates has been largely positive. Most notably users appreciate the ease of use and solid integration with other online tools such as email, and IM. Most negative feedback surrounds the placement of advertising, third party widget integration, and arbitrary limits imposed on customization.

Key features include (compiled list from sites mentioned below):

• Drag and drop content: with the click of a mouse users are able to select and drag content around their personal home page. This demonstrates adoption of 2.0 programming techniques (AJAX ) to make the page more interactive and fluid. These techniques create a pleasing user experience because pages do not have to re-load in order to update .
• Search is right at the top and easily accessible. This is important because the accessibility of search within the page limits the need to leave the site and go to an alternative search engine such as Google, or MSN search. It’s great for Yahoo! and it is nice for users too.
• My Yahoo is now analyzing known data about the user (zip code from IP address and the areas of Yahoo that the user visits often) to create a customized version of the My Yahoo page right at signup. This results in targeted category pages for topics such as cooking, finances, etc along with “content suggestions”. The analysis makes the page much more sticky. Users who see relevant content right up front are much more likely to stay on the page and begin the process of customization.
• Users can further customize their page with drag-and-drop modules, and new four-column and small search box layouts. The ability to customize layouts is key to providing users with the feeling that they have control over their online environment. Additionally, users who spend the time to truly customize their content are less likely to switch personal home page providers.
• Feed previews and a full post reader on the page. Users use RSS feeds to follow their favorite sites, their social networking sites, their blogs, and to receive news updates. Integration of this service keeps users at the personal homepage and limits the need to leave the page.
• Editable Personal Assistant with instant access to things like Yahoo! Mail, IM, horoscopes, local traffic, etc. This is a nifty feature that many smaller competitors are not able to offer because they do not have the range of services that Yahoo has to offer. Keeping users in contact with the range of services the Yahoo! offers helps keep users within the network while encouraging addoption of other network offerings.
• Redesigned modules from Yahoo! and select partners, with games, music, commerce, sports updates, weather, finance portfolios, TV listings, etc. This is a value add for users who want pre-defined content modules and a way to offer support for selected partners but fails to be as inclusive as many users would like because it isn’t openly available to sites that may or may not be viewed as “competition”. For example, there is not Hotmail module, but there is a Flicr module.
• Sharing feature, enabling users to send their My Yahoo! page or favorite modules to friends and family - note, this is very similar to Pageflakes’ sharing feature, only Yahoo says that their sharing service doesn’t require sign-ups. Keeps users connected to their friends etc. Demonstrates a push toward social interaction but still falls short on full social networking power. For example, it would be nice if connected friends could also receive updates when information, pictures etc where shared between users. It would also be nice if users were able to tag communication between friends as public or private within a connected network, essentially allowing public communication update notices to travel to other connected network user pages.

So far so good huh. I like the features but it isn’t all good news. Though most user reaction to My Yahoo! has been positive and there is general agreement that they have done a good job at not upsetting their core audience there are several weaknesses: The advertising on the page is way too big and intrusive causing many to mention that they will be looking at Pageflakes and iGoogle as an alternative. They also fall down on their ability to deliver open modules and widgets. Meaning they don’t have an open platform for developers and the modules don’t support the competition. From a business standpoint this type of behavior was understandable in web 1.0 but for those of us pushing web 2.0 this is a failing business modle. The reason is that the little guys are making modules and widgets that are completely open and that support anyone willing to develop (competition or not).

Here are just a few choice quotes from arround the web that demonstrate where My Yahoo! should be going:

“Functionally Yahoo should also start thinking about allowing their widgets to live anywhere, ie giving people the ability to embed their widgets anywhere…. Widget portability is crucial” — User response to Richard MacManus, Read/Write Web article. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/my_yahoo_web20_makeover.php

“There are a couple of areas where My Yahoo is still lagging competitors like Netvibes. Widgets cannot be added to the site, although that is coming eventually, the team says. Users also can no longer have bookmarks linked right from the main page - that feature has been moved to a drop down control panel. That makes some sense from a user interface perspective, but I’ll miss being able to access bookmarks with a single click. Finally, My Yahoo has a large ad unit on the site that cannot be removed - something none of the other services force on users.” – Michael Arrington, Tech Crunch. http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/03/08/all-new-my-yahoo/

“The new My Yahoo is a step forward but misses the mark. It is more about Yahoo! and less about today’s users of the Web, who expect more from their personalized page. Their new personalization feature steers you towards Yahoo! services while restricting access to others like Google and MySpace. The new version limits user choice because it isn’t open to developers. Lastly, you can’t publish your personalized page on the web, or collaborate on your page with others.” — Pageflakes CEO Dan Cohen (former head of MyYahoo). http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/pageflakes_response_myyahoo_beta.php

Conclusions

Although My Yahoo! is doing better and is still the largest thanks to that “first to market” advantage back in the 1990’s, it still hasn’t fully commited to the core principles of web 2.0. I’m excited by the recent changes, but also am excited for the competition. There are a whole lot of things yet to be built into personal home pages and it is only a matter of time before someone does it right.