Yahoo Launches Upgraded Yahoo Finance App

Yahoo on Wednesday unveiled an updated version of one of its core properties -- Yahoo Finance -- for iOS and Android devices. The move is part of Yahoo’s ongoing effort to launch new or enhanced mobile products as it attempts to catch up with competitors, such as Facebook and Google on the mobile side.

The navigation bar in the revamped app features a new “Home” tab for quick access to the stocks a user is following, along with another tab for getting relevant news about a given stock. It also offers push notifications for breaking news and upgraded interactive charts with stock quotes.

“The updated app for iPhone and iPad now delivers real-time stock quotes front and center. In addition, the app creates a personalized newsfeed from all the stocks and companies you follow. Everything updates in real time, giving you a quicker, more seamless experience on the go,” stated Robby Stein, director of product management at Yahoo, in a blog post today.

Yahoo Finance gets a boost in mobile traffic by powering the default “Stocks” app in iOS. That made it the ninth-ranked smartphone app in the U.S. in May, with 28.9% reach, according to comScore. Apple recently pulled Yahoo Weather as the default “Weather” app in iOS in favor of The Weather Channel, but the company for now is sticking with Yahoo for the Stocks app.

If Yahoo wants to build its mobile ad business, it needs apps like Yahoo Finance to generate meaningful revenue.

Like other redesigned Yahoo apps, it offers in-stream native ad units, but it’s not clear how much these ads are contributing so far. Yahoo hasn’t broken out mobile ad revenue to date, but in its latest earnings conference call said mobile display sales had doubled from a year ago.  

Release of the new app follows closely after the company introduced Yahoo Finance Contributors, a program allowing a “select group” of prominent investors, money managers, analysts and traders to publish content directly to Yahoo Finance via Tumblr. The roster of contributors includes activist investor Carl Icahn and Morningstar CEO Joe Mansueto.

 

 

 

 

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