Online news consumption: search vs. serendipity

SAN FRANCISCO ― When it comes to online news consumption, there are two groups of audiences divided by their habit of accessing news; one usually searches for specific information of interest and the other wants something new that they cannot get through social media. 

Yahoo, the most visited news site on the Internet, is decisively geared toward the latter, putting emphasis on human activities and editorial involvement.

“Our editorial news room consists of professional journalists. We’ve seen the importance to see seasoned journalists to decide what’s important and what’s not,” said Kryssa Guntrum, director of the global product communications at Yahoo.

The approach clearly differs from that of Google, the most powerful search engine, which relies much on algorithms, she said.