Yahoo News
| Company type | Digital news platform |
|---|---|
| Industry | News media, Internet |
| Founded | August 1996 |
| Founder | Brad Clawsie |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Online news aggregation, original journalism, mobile news app |
| Owner | Yahoo (Apollo Global Management) |
| Parent | Yahoo |
Yahoo News (branded as Yahoo! News) is a digital news platform that originated as an online news aggregator launched by Yahoo. Developed by Yahoo engineer Brad Clawsie in August 1996, the site initially compiled articles from prominent news agencies such as the Associated Press, Reuters, Fox News, Al Jazeera, ABC News, USA Today, CNN, and BBC News.
In 2000, Yahoo News rolled out features displaying the most viewed and most emailed stories, becoming one of the first to implement metrics for online news consumption. The platform introduced user commenting capabilities, which were temporarily suspended between 2006 and 2010 due to challenges in moderation.
By 2011, Yahoo had broadened its scope by producing original journalism to establish itself as a significant media entity. This included recruiting seasoned reporters like Walter Shapiro and Virginia Heffernan and appointing a White House correspondent in 2012. During this period, Alexa Internet ranked Yahoo News among the leading global news websites. Plans were also underway to incorporate Twitter feeds for real-time news updates. In November 2013, Yahoo appointed former Today Show and CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric as Global Anchor; she left the role in 2017.
On May 3, 2021, Verizon disclosed its agreement to sell Verizon Media to Apollo Global Management for approximately $5 billion, with the company rebranding as Yahoo while Verizon retained a 10% ownership stake. The deal was finalized on September 1, 2021.
To bolster credibility with its audience, Yahoo News acquired The Factual in September 2022, a startup utilizing artificial intelligence to assess the reliability of news articles. In April 2024, Yahoo integrated AI technology from the recently shuttered news app Artifact into an enhanced version of Yahoo News.
Yahoo Celebrity
Originally launched as omg! on June 12, 2007, with limited promotion via Yahoo’s corporate blog, Yahoo Celebrity targeted a predominantly female audience. The site secured exclusive sponsorship agreements with Unilever, Pepsi, and Axiata (Celcom & XL). Aggressive front-page advertising and strategic partnerships fueled swift growth, drawing four million visitors within the first 19 days. By fall 2007, omg! attracted over eight million monthly readers, positioning it as the second most popular U.S. gossip website—surpassing People but trailing TMZ.com.
In December 2012, Yahoo collaborated with CBS Television Distribution to co-brand The Insider as omg! Insider for mutual promotional purposes. By January 2014, CBS restored the show's original title The Insider, while Yahoo rebranded omg! under the name Yahoo Celebrity.
Mobile application
Yahoo created a mobile application that aggregates leading news stories across various categories for both iOS and Android devices. This app earned recognition as a winner at the 2014 Apple Design Awards.
Ranking
As of January 2019, Alexa Internet ranked Yahoo News sixth among worldwide news websites, placing it ahead of Fox News but behind CNN.