What's new at Yahoo Maktoob
Following
the closure
of its offices in Egypt earlier this year, Yahoo Maktoob has rolled
out some recent annoucements to demonstrate new content and
customization.
Its announcements are't groundbreaking (its homepage will be
customized), but the company will be adding new video and
entertainment content with coverage of the World Cup 2014
and a new partnership with Saudi video
content company UTURN.
This Monday at the Ritz Carlton in Dubai, Yahoo Maktoob's
regional leads announced that the company would be
customizing the homepage, upgrading its Weather, Flickr, and
Horoscope apps, while turning its news feed into a stream of
real-time content.
“The homepage is the front door of Yahoo and we should take good care of it”, said Amina Rached, Head of Media MEA (Middle East and Africa). She added, “the chances of each one present in the room to have the same homepage are very low.”
While Yahoo
Maktoob sticks to tried-and-true products on its homepage, it's
also focusing on coverage of one of the region's favorite events:
the World Cup. International VP of Marketing Robert Bridge
announced that the company has signed an agreement with Jose
Mourinho, the manager of the Chelsea team, to serve as a global
ambassador. The company also announced a partnership
with the famous Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmi, who will travel to
Brazil to cover the event.
To further engage football lovers, the tech company has launched an
update to
Maktoob Football Yahoo!, the
Android and iOS app that it debuted last year,
fully designed by Yahoo's developers and engineers in Amman. The
app offers real-time scores. analysis, stats and game information,
as well as the chance to share videos, photos or results via social
media.
And finally, demonstrating a commitment to original Arabic content, Yahoo Maktoob announced that it will launch a new premium channel on its video platform to feature UTURN’s recent productions as well as exclusive content, such as "behind the scenes" videos; the platform will extend UTURN's reach to Yahoo Maktoob's userbase of 60 million monthly users.