To redefine the browsing experience for iPhone and iPad users, Yahoo! has launched Axis, a multiplatform browser that allows users to instantly peek into different websites without leaving a primary search bar.
Photo: Axis interface, from adweek.com
Users can register with the product through their Yahoo!, Facebook or Google account, start surfing on their iPhone and then continue on the iPad seamlessly, without having to search for the same web pages on the other device. On a computer, they can use Axis as a plug-in for any popular browser whether it’s Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Safari. Axis is free and later this year will be available for Android.
With Axis, it’s easy to search for anything on the web as it shows visual previews of up to 25 search results that appear in small boxes. Especially, it’s comfortable when searching for photos—you don’t have to go to the certain web page but view the image in a preview. According to Yahoo!, Axis can serve visual thumbnails for about 80% of the pages users might come across in a search.
Multi-screen and multi device experiences and integration is high on the agenda for many platform owners and publishers. The innovation in the field has accelerated with all major platforms launching mobile equivalents to their stationary services. Yahoo! Axis is not hugely significant or innovative but more of a natural development given the focus on multi-device use in the industry.
Axis utilizes the latest web standards such as HTML5 and Mindshare. It doesn’t feature advertising, but Ethan Batraski, director of product management for search at Yahoo! said to Adweek that Yahoo! would be able to add in rich-media ads between the search results. Earlier this year, the tech company launched Genome, a new digital tool for marketers.
“Imagine being able to have the power of a search ad and the contextual [targeting] with the richness of a display ad and have them merged together,” he said. “That’d be a huge value prop for the advertiser because now the user knows what’s behind the link so they know what to expect, and when they land there, they’re a more qualified lead.”