Yahoo Launches Its Woman's Site Shine; Deals With Conde Nast, Hearst And Others

(PaidContent.org)  This story was written by Rafat Ali.

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Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) has launched its ambitious woman's site called Shine, bringing together content from other smaller sections of Yahoo, with original content and syndication deals with the likes of Conde Nast, Hearst, Rodale, Time Inc and others. The site is aimed at women between ages 25 and 54, something that the company thinks it has underserved till now, even though it has as many as 40 million women who come to the site each month, the company said. It has content in nine specific categories: Fashion & Beauty, Food, Healthy Living, Work & Money, Love and Relationships, Parenting, At Home, Entertainment & Culture, and Astrology.

The new launch comes as there is speculation that the Microsoft-Yahoo deal may finally be announced this week.

Earlier today I spoke to Scott Moore, SVP and head of Yahoo Media, who said that the company has been working on the new site for about six months, He explained that for the longest time, Yahoo had been developing sites focused on topics (for instance Food, Sports and others). Now, with Shine, it has started developing site based on audiences/demographics, and in this case a big one, and lucrative to advertisers. He said that this is the first time Yahoo has gone with a blog-feel to a site (with a very un-Yahoo like, slicker-feeling look), though Yahoo Sports had been experimenting with it on a smaller scale before. Yahoo has hired an editorial team, to populate the site with original stories and blog posts.

The company is folding in its astrology section for good, and now incorporating it within Shine, Moore told me. Also, Food, which still remains a separate site, has most of its content replicated onto Shine (and may ultimately be folded in, my guess). Other Yahoo sections contribute to Shine as well. As for the content syndicated from third party, he wouldn't disclose the specifics, but suffice to say there are financial incentives in those deals with Conde Nast and others.

The site will be competing against the likes of iVillage, and then the ad network served by Glam Media. If and when the Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) deal goes through, would be interesting to watch how much of such efforts by Yahoo are kept around.


By Rafat Ali