WebProNews

Tag: redesigns

  • Facebook Redesigns Ads To The Right Of The News Feed

    Facebook is launching a new design for the ads that appear to the right of the news feed. There will be fewer ads on the page at a time, but they will be bigger. Here’s what it’s going to look like:

    “This updated look will make right-hand column ads more visually consistent with the ads that appear in News Feed,” the company says. “They will use the same proportions as desktop News Feed ads, they will be larger in size, and there will be fewer of them. For advertisers, this offers a simpler way to create ads and an enhanced creative canvas on the right-hand column of Facebook.”

    “The new look of the ads, along with their new distribution, is intended to offer a better ad experience on Facebook,” it adds. “In early tests we’ve seen increased engagement — up to 3X more — from people seeing the new design.”

    That’s probably a good thing considering that Twitter ads are reportedly seeing significantly better click-through rates.

    Advertisers will no longer have to choose separate images for News Feed and right-hand column placements. The same image will fit both with the new design.

    Facebook says the new look will be rolling out over the coming months. Some advertisers will see the new option later this month. Facebook will support both formats during the transition phase.

    Image via Facebook

  • Twitter Launches New Look And Features For Profiles

    Twitter is launching a new look for profile pages, and some new features to go with it. The design features a large image across the top of the screen, even bigger than your Facebook cover photo.

    New features include Best Tweets, Pinned Tweet and Filtered Tweets.

    Best tweets are those that have received more engagement. They will appear a little bigger on the screen than the others. Twitter says the idea is to make your best content easier to find.

    Pinned Tweet is a feature that lets you pin a tweet of your choosing to the top of your page. Twitter says this makes it easier for followers to “see what you’re all about.”

    Filtered tweets let you choose which timeline to view when looking at other profiles. You can look at Tweets, Tweets with photos/videos or Tweets and replies.

    The features are now available to a small group of people, but will be coming to everyone within weeks. Check out Kerry Washington’s profile to get an idea of what you’re in for.

    Image via Twitter

  • Facebook Answers Your Questions About The New Page Design

    Earlier this month, Facebook announced a new redesign for Facebook Pages. The changes began rolling out, but the company has been telling Page admins that they can get on a waiting list for the new design. It’s rare that Facebook ever rolls out major changes quickly.

    The new layout essentially puts all posts in one column on the right, and displays things like business info, photos and videos on the left. Here’s what it looks like:

    New Facebook Page design

    The new design also includes a “Pages to Watch” feature, which lets you monitor what your competitors are doing with their Pages.

    Pages to Watch

    On Monday, Facebook put up a blog post answering the “top 5 questions” about the update, which are: What info will appear in the left-side column?; Where will my apps appear?; Where can I view messages?; Will other Pages know I’ve added them to my Pages to Watch list?; and When will I have access to the update design for Pages?

    Facebook specified a bit more what Pages can expect to find in the left column. The business info (like a map, phone number, business hours, likes, visits, etc.), videos and photos will appear for brick-and-mortar businesses. Reviews, posts to your Page and Pages your Page likes will also appear there.

    For businesses operating primarily online, the column will show likes, info about the business, apps (if relevant), photos, videos, posts to Page and the Pages your Page likes.

    Admins will be able to rearrange the order in which any of this stuff appears, which is nice. In addition to the left-hand column, apps can appear in the top navigation menu, and admins can also rearrange the order of those.

    Pages with messages activated can view them in the Activity tab at the top of the Page, and in the This Week box on the right side.

    Messages

    As far as other Pages knowing if you add them to your “Pages to Watch” list, Facebook does notify them that they’ve been added to another Page’s watch list, but it doesn’t specify which Page added them. In other words, they’ll know somebody added them, but they won’t know it was you (unless they figure it out on their own). If you only have one real competitor, it will probably be fairly obvious.

    Facebook says the new design has rolled out to a small number of Pages so far, and that the rollout will continue over the next several weeks.

    Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be any features aimed at helping your organic reach, which is due to plummet even further.

    Images via Facebook

  • Google Redesigns Search Results On Desktop

    Google has been “experimenting” with a new design for its search results pages, which gets rid of the underline on links, increases the font size, and gets rid of the colored boxes around ads in favor of a more organic look (don’t worry, they’re still labeled).

    Google regularly does these “experiments” and tests, and many of them never see the light of day in terms of a broad roll-out. This one, however, is launching to everyone now.

    Googler Jon Wiley (via Search Engine Roundtable) made the announcement on Google+:


    Here’s a look:

    What do you think?

    What’s interesting is that Google just said the other day that this design was still just an experiment. At a search conference no less. Why not just make the announcement?

    Image via Google

  • Facebook Redesigns Timelines For Pages

    Facebook Redesigns Timelines For Pages

    Facebook announced the launch of some changes to Pages, including a redesigned timeline, new options for admin tools and a new Pages to Watch feature.

    With the new Timeline design, all posts will appear on the right-side column, while the left side will display business info if applicable (hours, map, phone number, web address), photos and videos.

    “No matter where you are on your Page, you can now view information about the ads you’re running and new likes on your Page, as well unread notifications and messages,” Facebook says in a blog post. “You can click on any section in the This Week section for more detail.”

    “We’ve also added new navigation options to the top of the Page, making it easier to access your activity, insights and settings,” the company adds. “The Build Audience menu at the top of the Page offers direct access to your Ads Manager account.”

    The Pages to Watch feature (first spotted by some admins last summer) appears in the Page Insights tool for all admins, and lets them create a list of Pages similar to their own to compare the performance of the Page with that of other businesses. It will show stats about these pages like total likes, new likes, number of posts during the week and weekly engagement levels.

    The changes begin rolling out this week on the desktop.

  • YouTube Launches Design Tweaks, Emphasizes Playlists

    YouTube announced a few design tweaks, which it says are designed to make it easer to find what you want to watch, and to collect playlists.

    The guide now contains all the playlists you’ve created as well as those you’ve liked from other channels. When you make a new one, there’s a new page for editing it. There’s also a new Playlists tab that lets you find playlists from channels you’re looking at.

    The new design has a more centered look, which is helps it fit “neatly” on any screen size, and keep a similar feel to the mobile apps. The company says, by the way, that people are spending roughly half of their YouTube time on the mobile apps.

    “You can quickly flip between what’s recommended and popular in ‘What to Watch’ like Postmodern Jukebox’s Timber, and the latest from your subscribed channels like iamOTHER in ‘My Subscriptions,’ with both options now front and center,” says YouTube’s Yining Zhao. “Click the guide icon to the right of the YouTube logo at any time to see your playlists, subscriptions and more. ”

    Early reaction to the changes is mixed, which is a lot better than certain other feature roll-outs of late.

    Images via YouTube

  • Google Analytics Gets A New Look

    Google Analytics Gets A New Look

    Google announced that it is pushing out some design tweaks to the navigation and sidebar in Google Analytics.

    “We think this is a simpler and more beautiful way to present your reports, dashboards and will make your analysis easier and faster,” the company says in a Google+ post.

    Google Analytics

    Google says the changes will be rolling out over the next few weeks, so sit tight if you’re not seeing them just yet.

    Based on the replies to Google’s announcement, it looks like most people like the new look.

    Image via Google

  • Twitter Tries A More Facebook-Like Look For Profiles

    Twitter and Facebook have been becoming more and more like one another for years, and the trend continues with a new design Twitter is testing for its user profile pages on the desktop.

    It’s unclear just how many people are seeing the new look, but it is drastically different, and yes, it is quite Facebook-like in some ways. Mashable has a screenshot.

    For comparison:

    The Twitter design also puts updates in two columns, which is actually more like Facebook Page timelines than user timelines.

    Obviously reaction is mixed.

    Once (and if) this rolls out to everyone, I imagine we’ll see a great deal more complaining. Remember when Twitter made that change to the @reply format?

    In the end, will it really drive anyone away from Twitter? I doubt it. Isn’t the bulk of Twitter use more about the timeline than the profile anyway?

    What’s interesting is how busy the profile has become, and how much Twitter has added to its service in general over the years. Historically, it’s been the “simple” social alternative. The company has always talked up its simplicity, but now its a public company, and it has to make moves to grow. User growth is already a concern, and its lack of it sent Twitter shares tumbling upon its first earnings report.

    I don’t know if a change like this will do anything to help user growth, but its more visual look could encourage users to at least use Twitter more for photo sharing. At least Twitter isn’t stagnating.

    About a month ago, Twitter rolled out a fairly subtle homepage redesign, putting it more in line with its mobile apps.

    Images via Twitter, Facebook

  • Yelp Launches New Interface, Business Pages

    Yelp announced that it is rolling out a new site design along with a new look for business pages. Rather than making a few teaks, the’ve elected to take the “from the ground up” approach.

    The new design plays up local content contributed by Yelp users, while also making it easier to find business info.

    “Since photos are used to determine an incredible amount about a business, the new design puts them front and center,” says product manager Brad Menezes. “Instead of a small thumbnail, we’re featuring up to six big, beautiful photos of the business. Now a quick glance at a restaurant’s page can give you a feel for the dining experience, food quality and ambiance, all within mere seconds.”

    This follows changes Yelp made last year to match users’ photos with their reviews.

    “Yelp’s review highlights give you a birds-eye-view of our community’s favorite elements of a business,” says Menezes. “Because review highlights are so useful, we’ve given them a huge upgrade, mining our review data to call out the best menu items, prices and important information like whether a bar is beer and wine only. Looks like we should head to Tataki South during happy hour, try the Garlic Edamame to start and order the one-of-a-kind Extinguisher Roll (yum!).”

    They’ve also adjusted the column width and font size to make it easier to read reviews, while adding large photos in-line.

    In other Yelp news, the company has partnered with Yahoo to integrate its reviews and listings into Yahoo local search results.

    Images via Yelp

  • Twitter Gets A Redesign On The Web

    Twitter Gets A Redesign On The Web

    Twitter announced on Monday that it is rolling out a new design for Twitter.com, which mirrors the look and feel of its mobile apps.

    The company didn’t go into many details, but announced the new look in a tweet:

    As it’s still rolling out, I’m not getting the new design yet, so I can’t comment too much on it, but based on the image they’re sharing it doesn’t look like too drastic of a change. Certainly not anything to freak out about as people often do.

    If we’re seeing the extent of the changes in this screenshot, I don’t expect to even see the backlash we saw when Twitter made changes to its conversational layout.

    Image via Twitter

  • LinkedIn Rolls Out An Inbox Revamp

    LinkedIn Rolls Out An Inbox Revamp

    LinkedIn announced the roll-out of a new redesign to its inbox, which it says is one of the top five destinations on LinkedIn.

    Here’s a look:

    LinkedIn Inbox

    LinkedIn Inbox

    The changes are supposed to make it easier to navigate and to manage your connections. The design includes larger pictures, a centralized navigation on the left side and within each message. This, LinkedIn says, helps you quickly move between messages and invitations.

    There are also previews of each message to make browsing easier.

    LinkedIn’s Alexandre Lee shares some tips for effective LinkedIn messages here.

    The redesign will be rolling out over the course of the next few weeks in English. It will roll out to everyone else after the new year.

    Images: LinkedIn

  • Here’s What You Can Now Do With Google Shopping

    Here’s What You Can Now Do With Google Shopping

    Google has launched some new features for Google Shopping, including some tweaks to the browsing experience, a new Shortlists feature and 360° product views.

    When it comes to browsing, users can now preview details like sizes, colors, descriptions and availability at nearby stores, and get “visually similar” results as suggestions.

    The Shortlists feature lets users keep track of products of interest, compare them and share with their friends.

    Google shopping shortlists

    “Shortlists now also stay at the top of the page while someone is browsing Google Shopping, so she can cross off items on her shopping list as she goes,” says Google Shopping Senior Product Manager Karen Corby. “When people add products to their shortlists, photos, price and detailed information are automatically saved, too — so make sure your product feed is up-to-date and has all the necessary information that makes it easy for them to choose your store when they’re ready to buy.”

    360° product views are pretty self-explanatory, but this will give you an idea:

    “These interactive images bring users the in-store feeling of holding and touching a product,” says Corby.

    You have to apply using this form if you want these for your own products.

    Bing has also now fully transitioned to its new product search experience, officially abandoning Bing Shopping.

    Images: Google

  • Netflix Launches Big Redesign For TVs

    Netflix has introduced what it is calling the biggest update in the company’s history to its TV experience. It’s rolling out to Roku 3, select smart TV and Blu-Ray players, PlayStation and Xbox 360.

    “More than a year and half in the making, this new experience evolved through a process of design exploration, iteration and testing that extended throughout all parts of the Netflix TV experience,” says Chris Jaffe, VP of product innovation at Netflix. “We set out to deliver an update that would make it even easier to discover something great to watch and we think we succeeded.”

    “After starting Netflix, you’ll immediately notice the cinematic and rich visual experience,” he says. “As you navigate, three large images for each show and movie provide much more context about a title. We also added a shorter, more descriptive synopsis as well as personalized information to provide more detail about why you should watch a specific title. This personalized information can be based on your social network, viewing history or taste preferences.”

    TV shows have a new episode selector, which uses images from each episode, along with a synopsis. Search is also more visual, and includes results for titles as well as actors and directors. Post-play (which automatically starts the next episode of a TV show) has been redesigned as well.

    Netflix has also redesigned the Kids experience, which now has a blue background and “subtle” Kids label. The update puts the Kids section on Roku and some smart TVs for the first time.

    The update makes Netflix Profiles supported across all devices, and adds support for voice on Xbox 360 and pointer-based navigation on smart TVs.

    The roll-out will take about two weeks, Netflix says, and it will hit more devices (including Roku 2) in the future.

    Image: Netflix

  • Yahoo Finance Gets A Web Refresh

    Earlier this week, Yahoo announced the launch of a new Yahoo Finance app for the iPhone and iPad. Today, the company follows up that news with the launch of a new web experience for the service.

    Here’s what that looks like:

    “This clean new design aims to provide you with access to the stocks you care about, a stream of relevant business news, deeper data integration, and more,” says Yahoo Finance head of product, Emily Jipson. “One of the first changes you’ll notice is a list of stocks at the top left, which makes monitoring the companies that you care about easy from any page on Yahoo Finance.”

    “The new Yahoo Finance Portfolio lets you sync your brokerage accounts for a real-time view of your performance,” she adds. “Now, it’s faster and easier to see your best and worst performing investments, right from the new Finance homepage.”

    Yahoo has also integrated the Markets section with the homepage. There’s a new calendar feature that lets users see the day’s market-moving events. Trending Tickers lets users stocks that are trending among Yahoo Finance other users.

    The release comes just as rival Google Finance has publicly criticized during the Twitter IPO.

  • Groupon Launches Major Redesign (Site & Apps)

    Groupon Launches Major Redesign (Site & Apps)

    Groupon has launched big redesigns for its website and mobile apps. The company hopes the changes will make it easier for users to shop for deals.

    “The latest versions of the website and mobile apps make it simple for customers to search and browse Groupon’s more than 54,000 active deals to find the exact offer they want, when they want it,” a Groupon spokesperson tells WebProNews.

    The site has personalization features, which include deals based on customer interest, previous purchases, purchases by other customers with similar interests.

    Groupon homepage

    The new design plays up search more, making the search bar prominent at the top of every page. It also includes search suggests. Search results span across all Groupon channels.

    There are also some new search filters, which are always displayed alongside the search results.

    “In just five years, Groupon has grown from a daily deal website to a true online marketplace with a tremendous mobile following,” said Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky. “Our new site and mobile app makes it easier and more rewarding for customers to check Groupon first when they want to buy just about anything, anytime, anywhere.”

    The apps will automatically detect when a mobile user has changed locations, and send notifications when they’re in range of deals. Local deals are selected based on current location, instead of just the user’s hometown.

    iPad users can “favorite” deals to save for future reference. The iPad app is also expanding into 12 new markets: Austria, Chile, Colombia, French Canada, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Russia and Thailand.

    Groupon iPad

    Groupon’s mobile apps (including tablet) have been downloaded by over 50 million people in 43 countries.

  • Here’s What AdWords Is Apparently About To Look Like

    Google appears to be in the process of rolling out a new look for AdWords, including a new logo and interface.

    Internet marketer Rick Galan is one of the users who have access to the new style, and he tweeted out what it looks like:

    It’s unclear how far into the roll-out process Google is with this, but according to Search Engine Land, not many users are getting it so far.

    Google recently rolled out a new logo and navigation style across its various properties (to mixed reviews), so AdWords was due for a similar update, though the color scheme of the new AdWords separates it a bit from most of Google’s products.

    Image: Rick Galan

  • Google Launches New Knowledge Graph Tools, ‘Hummingbird’ Algorithm & More

    Google announced some new features today in celebration of its fifteenth birthday. First off, Knowledge Graph has a new comparison feature and new filters.

    “We keep expanding features of the Knowledge Graph so it can answer more questions—even those that don’t have a simple answer,” says Google’s Amit Singhal. “Let’s say you want to get your daughter excited about a visit to the Met. You can pull up your phone and say to Google: “Tell me about Impressionist artists.” You’ll see who the artists are, and you can dive in to learn more about each of them and explore their most famous works. If you want to switch to Abstract artists, you can do that really easily with our new filter tool:”

    He adds, “Or let’s say you want to compare two things: How much saturated fat is in butter versus olive oil? Now you can simply tell Google: ‘Compare butter with olive oil.’ Our new comparison tool gives you new insights by letting you compose your own answer.”

    knowledge graph comparison

    Knowledge graph

    He says Google will keep adding more data to make this feature available for more types of comparisons.

    Google will soon launch an update to the Google Search app for iPad and iPhone that will provide Google Now-based reminder notifications across devices. This follows a similar update last for Android last month.

    Google is also launching a new design for mobile search results and ads:

    New mobile search

    Google spoke about its new features at the famous Google garage today where they reportedly also discussed a new algorithm called Hummingbird and a song exploration feature.

    We don’t know much about these yet, but Danny Sullivan reports that Hummingbird affects 90% of searches worldwide, and “helps with complex queries”.

    I’m sure we’ll be finding out more about this soon.

    Image: Google

  • Yahoo Continues Product Refreshes With New Yahoo Maps

    Yahoo continues to launch redesigns for many of its products. Today it’s Yahoo Maps. The company announced that it is launching a refreshed Yahoo Maps experience for desktop users in the U.S.

    “The new Yahoo Maps makes it easier to explore and experience where you are, see where you’re headed and figure out the best route to get there,” says Senior Director, Product Management, Anand Chandrasekaran.

    The new look was designed to have a more consistent look and feel to Yahoo’s other recently redesigned properties. It also now includes pedestrian and public transit routing. Users can enter an origin and destination point, and see the route as either a pedestrian, a driver or a public transit passenger. You can view different options for public transportation.

    Yahoo Maps

    “On the map view, you can now pan and zoom, and select map vs. satellite view,” explains Chandrasekaran. “We’ve recently refreshed satellite imagery for over 14 million square kilometers of land – significantly reducing cloud cover, improving edge matching and image sampling and creating coast to coast views. For individuals as well as companies, these aerial images are key to a great maps experience – from showing someone the home you grew up in to logistics companies planning their routes. Further, new overlay options include real-time traffic, a carousel of stunning Flickr photos related to that location as well as local weather.”

    Yahoo says over a quarter of search queries on Yahoo are related to local content.

    Images: Yahoo

  • What Do Users Think Of Google’s New Look?

    As previously reported, a Googler quietly indicated that Google will be rolling out its new look for the top navigation bar (or “Google Bar”) over the coming weeks. It’s a design that people have been seeing here and there in various tests for quite some time (or at least something very close to what people have been seeing).

    What do you think of Google’s new design changes? Let us know in the comments.

    Google has now taken to its Inside Search blog to make an official announcement. Here’s the look you can expect to see soon instead of the black bar that appears across Google properties:

    New Google Bar

    New Google Bar

    Here’s the old version in case you’ve already forgotten:

    Google Black Bar

    “Your Google products are now accessible under a new app launcher, located at the top right of the screen,” says Tech Lead/Manager Eddie Kessler. “Just click on the familiar ‘Apps’ grid, also present on Android devices and Chromebooks.”

    “As part of this design, we’ve also refined the color palette and letter shapes of the Google logo. We’ll be rolling out this update across most Google products over the next few weeks, so keep an eye out and let us know your thoughts.”

    The logo has also caught some eyes in the wild recently. Here’s a better look at that, if you haven’t seen it yet:

    Google Logo

    Again, here’s the old version in case you’ve forgotten:

    Old Google Logo

    So what do people think? Here’s what they’re currently saying on Twitter:


    And now each of the big three search engines have made changes to their logos. Here’s Yahoo’s, and Bing’s.

    New Yahoo Logo

    New Bing Logo

    I think it’s safe to say that Google’s change is the least drastic. It’s a little flatter.

    It’s pretty similar to what they did with the Chrome logo a few years ago.

    Chrome logo

    Image via BetaNews

    This actually fits in pretty well with Google’s whole strategy of unifying its various products as one central Google product. Google has been gradually going in this direction over the years, and last year’s major privacy policy consolidation enabled it to treat its properties as such.

    This concept is taken further with the new navigation design, which is more in line with Google’s mobile devices. Things are starting to feel more and more like you’re simply using Google, regardless of which product you happen to be using.

    Do you like the direction Google is going in? Which of the three search engines has the best new logo? Let us know in the comments.

    New Google Logo Image via TechCrunch Google Bar Shots: Google

  • New Google Navigation About To Roll Out

    A new navigation style for Google has been spotted numerous times in the wild throughout the year, and it looks like it will soon finally be rolling out to users.

    Gerson Castañeda shared the following screenshot on Google+:

    Gerson Castañeda

    Gerson Castañeda20 hours ago

    WE HAVE AN UPDATE !!

    39    13 Powered by socialditto

    In the comments, a Googler said, “We’ll be rolling out this new feature in the next few weeks…stay tuned!!”

    This type of interface has been spotted on various Google products, including the Google homepage, and it is largely expected to take the place of the black navigation bar that appears across Google properties now.

    [via Google Operating System]

    Image: Gerson Castañeda (Google+)

  • Yahoo Launches Newly Redesigned My Yahoo, Wants iGoogle Users To Come Aboard

    Yahoo announced today that it has launched a new redesigned version of My Yahoo, where users can now get an even more personalized experience. It’s launching on both desktop and mobile.

    “The refreshed design gives you a sleek, tailor-made starting page to access your email accounts, calendars, stock portfolio, sports scoreboard, weather, Flickr, and of course your favorite content — from Yahoo and around the Web,” says Mike Kerns, SVP Homepage & Vertical Products. “You can also choose from a range of cool new themes from designers like Oscar de la Renta, Rachel Zoe and Jenni Kayne; artists Chihuly, Polly Apfelbaum and Alec Monopoly; and even bands like Empire of the Sun, Twenty One Pilots, and FUN. On My Yahoo anyone can create their very own place that reflects a sense of style and personality.”

    My Yahoo

    Kerns adds, “Let serendipity guide you, My Yahoo makes it simple to uncover new content and explore interesting topics and sources that you might not know about. Whether you’re a foodie, news junkie, fashionista, or a stock trader, you can customize a page that’s completely you. Maybe that includes the latest street styles from The Sartorialist, delicious recipes from Epicurious, the latest political headlines from Politico, or clever ways to modify Ikea furniture from Ikea Hackers.”

    If you’ve been an iGoogle user, Yahoo has an import tool for you.

    The new My Yahoo comes just after the launch of the new Yahoo iOS 7 app, which includes a new “My Saves” feature, enabling users to save content for later. Yahoo said this feature would come to the desktop soon, so it stands to reason that it will go hand in hand with the new My Yahoo.