Yahoo boss Marissa Mayer has announced plans to cut down on its smartphone apps, as the company looks to boost its advertising through more targeted campaigns.
The move will see Yahoo prune its portfolio of mobile applications from the current 75 programmes to about a dozen. Her remarks came during a Tuesday appearance before investors in San Francisco.
It marked the first time that Mayer has spoken at an investment conference since she defected from Google. to become Yahoo’s CEO seven months ago.
“I don’t assume users will have all 12 to 15, hopefully 2 to 4 per user that matter most to them,” Mayer said, according to a transcript from Business Insider. “I do think we want to have enough applications for that single-purpose need. [There’s a balance to achieve] with not overloading people with too many individual apps.”
If Yahoo succeeds, Mayer thinks the company will be able to sell more advertising. Mayer said Yahoo currently has more than 200 million active monthly mobile users.
On the topic of email, she said that advertising on Yahoo Mail works and is a driver of traffic, but that more can be done with Mail.
“I don’t know how many people think email works perfectly. There is a lot that can be improved … How many people at least once a day mark an email as unread on their phone, so they can go back later and read it on their PC?” Mayer said. “There’s an opportunity for innovation. … These are the types of things we’re thinking about.”
Since joining Yahoo, Mayer has stressed that the company needs to come up with a better mobile strategy to ensure its services become ingrained as daily habits that “delight and inspire” its users.
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