Bring us widgets
Yahoo! will open up its application development platform to third party developers and content providers in a bid to boost the “internet experience” of mobile users.
The web giant, which is competing with Google and others for mobile internet eyeballs, has said that it wants to “lead a mobile exosystem serving billions”. To do its Yahoo! Mobile Developer Platform will target four strategic areas. First, Yahoo! says it will make monetizing services easier by providing “write once, publish to lots” adaptation software so app developers don’t have to write applications over ana over again for different platforms, handsets and software. Launch partners include eBay, MySpace and MTV. Yahoo! expects “thousands” of new mobile widgets to be added as developers begin writing to this new platform.
Second, the company has redesigned its web home page for mobile, and will make the homepage (http://beta.m.yahoo.com) available “from an increasing number of devices over the next few months.
Third, the company has launched in beta Yahoo! Go 3.0, which incorporates widgets and applications from third parties, as well as a new design, optimized for mobile screen form factors.
Finally, Yahoo! is has launched display advertising in the new Yahoo! Go 3.0 beta client. It says it has “many more” innovations in mobile monetization tools and services planned over the course of 2008.
"Yahoo!'s ultimate goal is to bring the best possible Internet experience to the billions of mobile consumers around the globe," said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo! Inc. "We believe that to succeed on such a scale, the best strategy is to open up our mobile platform in order to tap the innovation and talent of the world's developers and publishers. Together, we'll be able to offer the wide selection of content and services that will allow individual consumers to choose their own ideal mobile Internet experiences."
The launch stops short of Google’s Android fanfare and associated Open Handset Alliance procession, but it does include LG Electronics and Motorola on the device side, as well as ACCESS which is in early discussions to support Yahoo!'s Mobile Widget platform.
Yahoo! argues that by concentrating on making applications and services easier to develop, and optimizing them for delivery to mobile devices, they can do more to reach billions of users, rather than limit themselves to specific devices (Apple) or platforms (Google).
The new home page interface is available in the USA to iPhone, S60 and a few Windows Mobile users. Go 3.0 will include widgets from other sources, as well as Yahoo! widgets. Whether and how Yahoo! will attempt to integrate those widgets into the actual phone user experience, rather than as a home page within an application, will be of great interest – to advertisers and operators.