Yahoo's streaming video service lets users follow channels
The company announces some small updates to Yahoo Screen, but the changes point to what Yahoo says it has recently been emphasizing: personalization.
Viewers can also reorder how the channels appear on their screen, and save videos to watch later if they are pressed for time.
The updates are small and incremental. (YouTube has let you follow different channels for some time now.) But the changes do illustrate what Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has said is one of the company's strategies going forward: personalization. Her bet is that the company's user interface chops will allow Yahoo to create experiences users can't get anywhere else.
The updates to Yahoo Screen certainly aren't revolutionary. But they tie in with Yahoo's beating of the personalization drum, at least in the way the company has presented the news: "Sit back, relax, and enjoy a new type of viewing experience personalized by you," Robby Stein, a Yahoo director of product, wrote in a blog post.
Yahoo has snapped up multiple online video startups recently. Earlier this month, the company acquired Evntlive, a concert streaming service that, among other things, gives users more viewing options by letting them choose different camera angles. Yahoo also acquired Ptch, a mobile video company originally incubated out of DreamWorks.
Yahoo also said on Monday that it has added new content from BuzzFeed, CollegeHumor, and The New York Times.