Yahoo sharpens offer for messaging battle

Some of the most noticeable changes have been to the site in Singapore, where links to other Yahoo services have been added to the main messaging window in a bid to increase usage of these and other Yahoo properties. This new integrated look may be rolled out to other Southeast Asian markets. The portal has also expanded the range of expressive features, such as sounds and avatars to further personalise the service. "One key objective was to ensure a deeper integration with other Yahoo services such as Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Photos, Yahoo Travel, Yahoo Movies and Yahoo Promotions have been added to make it more convenient for our users to access a variety of services and share information with friends and family," commented Yvonne Tey, head of marketing for Yahoo Southeast Asia and Singapore. "From time to time, certain features will be localised to tailor Yahoo Messenger to suit the needs of our users in selected markets." Hari Shankar, manager of interactive specialist mOne Singapore, said such a move has improved the user friendliness of Yahoo's offering, although it is unlikely to trigger a large spike of users to other parts of the site. "Messenger will garner a respectable percentage of users who make it to the entry point to the respective channels, albeit slowly," he said. Yahoo's messaging services are popular in Singapore though rival MSN has the edge in terms of number of users. However, analysts do not expect the enhancements alone to impact usage significantly, with the quality of both services generally regarded as being on a par. "What will actually close the gap between Yahoo and MSN messengers is how much focus Yahoo will throw behind marketing the service to end users and advertisers," Shankar commented. "So far they have not thrown their weight behind marketing or monetising the service compared to MSN. "With increasing focus on improving the product offering with the view of increasing usage, it is just a matter of time before the gap narrows down," he added. The Singapore site has also extended its mobile messaging capabilities, signing a deal to enable SingTel customers to use its mobile messaging service, which was already available to StarHub users.