Earlier this fall, Yahoo Mail added new features designed to streamline how users manage commerce features via email. As the Christmas season likely leads to more email newsletters, shopping alerts, and discounts, read on to learn how Yahoo is looking to improve signal-to-noise with your inbox.
Yahoo Mail’s new top-of-inbox navigation makes it easier for users to save money and shop seamlessly from their inbox. The update includes a gift card view that allows users to easily manage their unused gift cards in one place, a “free trial” tracker that reminds users when their trial period is about to expire, and receipts view that makes it easier to see receipts from all orders in one place. Additionally, Yahoo Mail now offers automatic package tracking alerts that pop up at the top of the inbox to keep users informed of their package’s status. These updates make it easier for customers to keep track of their gift cards, subscriptions, and purchases, simplifying the shopping experience.
Yahoo Mail has been a part of consumers’ lives for 25 years, so we know how important it is for people to quickly find what they need, whether it’s tomorrow’s flight departure time, a free trial for a video streaming service, or how much was spent during a weekend getaway with friends,” said Josh Jacobson, GM & SVP Yahoo Communications. “These new features are a culmination of listening to our people to better understand what they need and what makes Yahoo Mail an integral part of it.
Email is a protocol that’s not owned by any company
Email has been a staple of communication for decades and continues to be a popular choice for both personal and professional use. One of the reasons that email is superior to other messaging platforms is that it runs on open protocols without a CEO or a non-profit running. Throughout all the crazy things going on at Twitter, it’s made me continue to believe we need a return to focusing on open protocols.
Open protocols are standards that are publicly available and can be freely used by anyone. In the case of email, the most commonly used open protocol is the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). This protocol allows for the sending and receiving of email messages between different systems and ensures that messages are delivered in a consistent and reliable manner. The observability data market seeing a similar path right now as customers are moving back from closed platforms and back to open formats.
Unlike many other messaging platforms, email is not tied to a specific provider, service, or company. This means that you can use any email provider that supports the SMTP protocol, and you can easily communicate across devices, services, companies, and more. It’s fully interoperable. Over the last ten years, companies have spent time investing in platforms they control, and I believe the pendulum is swinging back to companies investing in open protocols. In a world where technology vendors control so much of our lives, moving back to a focus on protocols is critical.
Wrap up on new Yahoo mail updates
In my opinion, email is superior to other messaging platforms because it runs on open protocols without a CEO or a company behind it. Email is a protocol for communication just like HTTPS is a protocol for information. I do see the value of building new functionality on top of IMAP and SMTP, though, though. I am glad to see companies like Yahoo, Spike, Spark, Two Bird, and others layer on features on top of open protocols instead of building propriety platforms to lock customers in.
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