Yahoo Inc. is getting ready for a makeover of certain sections of its Web site, which will also include its home page. The decision comes in a time when the company is looking to step up its efforts in the never-ending battle for popularity.

Its Internet search rival Google managed to win a few extra points with its actions over the past few years and there are also Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook, attracting people with fun and innovative features. Yahoo is looking to build back its appeal and gain the popularity that it is used to having.

Google is without a doubt the company that Yahoo needs to compare itself with and also keep a close eye on, in order to take its business to the next level. Google managed, through some very thoughtful acquisitions, to spread its activity in many directions, most of them extremely financially rewarding.

Google Books is a long-term project released with the mission to digitize all the books available in the world; then there’s its 2006 YouTube acquisition, which is the biggest repository for video. Acquiring YouTube for $1.65 billion is considered one of the company’s best investments, attracting millions of visitors every hour and also huge advertising potential. Its initial plan was to build its own video archive, named Google Video, which failed to take off as the company wanted. There are also other projects, such as Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Docs and Blogger which are opened for all interested users but are also in a continuing development process meant to make them even more profitable.

YouTube is expected to generate about $200 million in revenue this year, which even though represents a significant amount, analysts believe that it is far from its real financial potential. Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman, has his mind set on reaching at a certain point an annual revenue of about $100 billion, which even though is a distant target, with a lot of hard work and good investments, can be reached. Suck figures are reached at this point by companies such as Hewlett-Packard and IBM, dealing with information-technology.

According to comScore Inc., over the past year Yahoo failed to keep its number one spot as the world’s most popular group of Web sites. Still, it secured its position at number two at a safe distance from the rest. The current makeover represents the company’s first renovation since 2006 and Mr. Tapan Bhat, senior vice president of front doors, communities and network services at Yahoo, explained that the company realizes that it needs to adapt to today’s demand in order to appeal to the users who do not have the time for all sorts of redirections and useless content and are only interested in certain information.

Caroline Dangson, a research analyst for IDC, talked about Yahoo’s intentions, saying that it will take more than a new look to improve the company’s results. "I don't think the physical look is going to change things," she said, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal.