Yahoo! Tech to Make Technology and Gadgets Easy for Consumers

The site features a broad selection of original and licensedcontent, hundreds of thousands of products with community productratings and reviews, as well as shopping, community andpersonalization features from across the Yahoo! network. Fourexperienced technology advisors, each focused on a specific audiencesuch as "moms," "boomers" or "working guys," offer daily guidance forconsumers looking to choose or use consumer electronics from one of 19categories, including computers, cell phones, digital cameras and MP3players.

"Personal technology has become essential to our daily lives, butthe growing number of product choices often confuses and overwhelmsmost consumers. We created Yahoo! Tech to make life a little lesscomplicated for our users," said Lloyd Braun, head of Yahoo!'s mediagroup. "We're integrating Yahoo!'s world-class tools and the mostrelevant technology content to deliver a one-of-a-kind experience toconsumers."

Yahoo! Tech will serve as the new anchor for consumer technologyadvertising on the Yahoo! network, one of the industry's largestonline advertising categories. Yahoo! has already established itselfas one of the premier destinations for consumer technology marketers,and the launch of Yahoo! Tech builds upon its leadership positionwithin the category.

Bringing the Best of Yahoo! to Yahoo! Tech

Yahoo! Tech was built using many of Yahoo!'s most popular toolsand technologies. These offerings are deeply integrated into the newWeb site to help users easily and quickly find the information theyvalue most about technology. Some of the key offerings from Yahoo!Tech include:

-- Community: Yahoo! Tech's active community lets users discover,
share and interact with people just like them to learn about
technology. Consumers can benefit from one another's
experiences through community ratings and reviews, Yahoo!
Answers and interaction with the Yahoo! Tech Advisors.

-- Yahoo! Answers: Through the integration of Yahoo!
Answers, consumers can get helpful tech information
from real people. In addition to finding
user-generated questions and answers on product pages,
consumers can ask and answer tech-related questions
through the Yahoo! Answers community.

-- Community Ratings & Reviews: Users will have access to
hundreds of thousands of community ratings and reviews
from Yahoo! Shopping. The reviews are integrated on
product pages and include average ratings to help
users quickly find the best product.

-- My Tech: My Tech makes the tech research process easy. As
people research their favorite tech products, My Tech
automatically remembers what they researched. In addition,
with one click users can save their favorite tech products for
future reference, and compare them side-by-side or email them
to family and friends. My Tech updates in real-time depending
on a user's activity and stays with users on almost every page
of the site.

-- Yahoo! Shopping: Yahoo! Tech brings hundreds of thousands of
technology products to consumers' fingertips through Yahoo!
Shopping's product index. The shopping tools offered on Yahoo!
Tech allow users to compare products by feature, brand, price
and user rating.

-- Search: Yahoo! Search technology is heavily integrated
throughout Yahoo! Tech, enabling users to find the latest
must-have products or advice, product round-ups or buying
guides.

Licensed, Original and User-Generated Content

Yahoo! Tech offers users product and technology content fromseveral leading consumer technology outlets, much of which isavailable exclusively on Yahoo! Tech. With a combination oftraditional technology publications and non-traditional outlets,Yahoo! Tech provides users with information they won't find anywhereelse. Consumer Reports provides product rankings from their mostpopular electronics and computer categories, previously only availableonline at ConsumerReports.org. Wiley Publishing, Inc, which publishesthe For Dummies brand, will provide specifically written articlestaken from various For Dummies technology titles and sharedexclusively with Yahoo! Tech users -- the first time this content isavailable anywhere online. McGraw-Hill Professional will offer contentfrom its best-selling "Quicksteps," "How to Do Everything," and"Headaches" series. Yahoo! Tech also features product reviews andinformation from the leading names in technology publishing, includingPC World, CNET and PC Magazine.

In addition to the licensed content, Yahoo! Tech has developedoriginal content that brings a unique voice and perspective to thesite. The Yahoo! Tech editorial team will develop product packages androundups on topics from "Best-Value PCs" to "Must-Have Gadgets for aRoad Trip," while four Yahoo! Tech Advisors have been selected toaddress the tech needs of specific audiences through daily commentaryabout technology in their lives. The Yahoo! Tech Advisors include:

-- Dory Devlin, "The Mom," shows how technology can help balance the demands of work and home. Devlin is a journalist with more than 20 years experience covering work-family issues.

-- Gina Hughes, the "Techie Diva," highlights the new must-have "it" gadgets for the trend-conscious crowd. Hughes is the chief editor and founder of the TechieDiva blog.

-- Christopher Null, "The Working Guy," shows how to use new technologies to get the job done on time -- whether in the office, at home or on the road. Null is the founding editor-in-chief of Mobile PC magazine, with more than 15 years of technology journalism experience.

-- Robin Raskin, "The Boomer," provides regular coverage focused on a maturing audience who rely more and more on the advantages of technology to stay in touch and make better use of their time. Raskin is the former editor of PC Magazine, editor-in-chief of FamilyPC and a USA Today columnist.

Yahoo! Tech will also feature original video programming, with anew initiative called "Hook Me Up." The program showcases Yahoo! Techusers receiving technology makeovers with a twist. Each three to fourminute episode will feature a Yahoo! user receiving a mini techmakeover that enhances their life.

One of the most important ways that people can learn about whichproducts are right for them is from other people like them. Yahoo!Tech incorporates the voice of the people with integrated productratings and reviews and questions and answers from Yahoo! Answers.

Creating New Technology Advertising Opportunities

Yahoo! Tech creates new opportunities for marketers on Yahoo! andwill serve as an important anchor for consumer technology advertising.The site has been developed for all consumers, not just those whoalready have a deep understanding of technology, so advertisers have aunique opportunity to reach a broader tech purchasing audience notfound at other vertical technology websites. Several leadingadvertisers are already working with Yahoo! on the launch of Yahoo!Tech, including Hewlett Packard, Verizon Wireless and Panasonic.

"HP and Yahoo! both know that complex technology is a turn-off forconsumers," said Mary Bermel, director, Interactive & Emerging Media,HP. "Just as consumers trust HP products to be reliable and designedfor the best experience, visitors to the new Yahoo! tech site willwelcome its easy-to-understand approach to technology."

In keeping consistent with the core philosophy of the site, "techmade easy," Yahoo! is encouraging advertisers to develop messages thatconsumers of all levels will understand. With this in mind, much ofthe advertising on Yahoo! Tech has been developed solely for the Website with jargon-free messages that focus on the key user benefitsconsumers need most, rather than complicated product specs.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global internet brand and one of the mosttrafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! seeks to provideonline products and services essential to users' lives, and offers afull range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connectwith Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered inSunnyvale, California.

About Yahoo! Tech

Yahoo! Tech (http://tech.yahoo.com) is a new website that givesconsumers plain-English advice and information about choosing andusing technology. The site approaches technology information with asimple philosophy: tech made easy. Yahoo! Tech features original,licensed and user-generated content about hundreds of thousands oftechnology products, and is powered by the search, community andpersonalization tools from across the Yahoo! network. The site wasdeveloped by a team of industry veterans, headed by Patrick Houston,who have experience working inside of Yahoo!, as well as with many ofthe leading consumer technology publications.