Yahoo acquires Vizify for 'more visual approach to data'

Yahoo on Wednesday added Vizify to the long list of startups it has bought since former Google executive Marissa Mayer took the helm less than two years ago.

The company did not disclose how much it paid for Vizify, which specializes in letting people turn their social media data into videos, infograpics or other visual presentations.

"We have found in Vizify a company that shares our passion for visualization technology and the user experience," Yahoo said.

Founded in 2011, Vizify is based in Portland, Oregon. Its five-member team will join Yahoo's media product group in San Francisco.

"As for what's next, we can't talk specifics just yet, but we're excited to bring a more visual approach to data at Yahoo," the Vizify team said in a post on the company's website.

"We have a lot more up our sleeves and can't wait to get started."

Sunnyvale, California-based Yahoo has bought more than two dozen startups as Mayer tries to pump new life into the aging Internet pioneer eclipsed by Silicon Valley neighbor Google.

Last month, Yahoo acquired Wander, which makes smartphone visual diary-app Days.

The Days app, launched a year ago, lets people weave images captured at various moments into "visual diaries" of any given days in their lives.

The Wander team will go to work in Yahoo offices in New York as the company adds more muscle to its efforts to be center stage on smartphones and tablet computers.

Since taking charge of Yahoo in July 2012, Mayer has made a priority of tailoring products and services for smartphones and tablets with an aim at becoming part of people's daily habits in the mobile age.

She has also shown a penchant for buying startups to add talented members of their teams to the Yahoo workforce.

Yahoo to stop users logging into its services with Facebook, Google accounts

Yahoo will stop letting consumers access its various online services, including Fantasy Sports and photo-sharing site Flickr, by signing-in with their Facebook or Google credentials.

The change, which will be rolled out gradually according to a Yahoo spokeswoman, will require users to register for a Yahoo ID in order to use any of the Internet portal's services.

The move marks the latest change to Yahoo by Chief Executive Marissa Mayer, who is striving to spark fresh interest in the company's Web products and to revive its stagnant revenue.

"Yahoo is continually working on improving the user experience," the company said in a statement, noting that the new process "will allow us to offer the best personalised experience to everyone".

The first Yahoo service to require the new sign-in process is Yahoo Sports Tourney Pick'Em, a service focused on the NCAA college basketball tournament which begins later this month. News of the change to Yahoo's Tourney Pick'Em sign-in process was first reported by the technology blog Betanews.

Since Mayer took the reins in 2012, the company has rolled out new versions of many of its key products, including Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Finance. Last year, Yahoo announced a program to recycle inactive Yahoo user IDs, letting new users claim email addresses that have not been used for more than 12 months.

In eliminating the Facebook and Google sign-in features, Mayer, a former Google executive, is effectively reversing a strategy that Yahoo adopted in 2010 and 2011 under then CEO Carol Bartz.

The change to the Tourney Pick'Em sign-in process began on Monday, the Yahoo spokeswoman said, noting that users could still access other services with Google or Facebook IDs.

The sign-in buttons for Facebook and Google will eventually be removed from all Yahoo properties, the Yahoo spokeswoman, though she declined to provide a timeframe.