Starbucks to launch new digital network with Yahoo
updated 12:10 am EDT, Wed October 20, 2010
Partnership will offer premium content for free
Starting Wednesday, US Starbucks customers will get an all-new portal page when they log into the internet, offering news, entertainment and health/lifestyle content licensed from premium content providers, all for free -- but only available in stores.
The Starbucks Digital Network (SDN) and its content has been optimized for both laptop and mobile devices, and built and served by Yahoo. It offers six "channels" of options, including enterainment, business, careers, local listings, health and wellness and a personalized Starbucks channel. Among the content providers will be the New York Times, Zagat and LinkedIn, along with various health magazine content.
There will also be options for social networking without leaving the portal. User habits will be tracked to improve offerings, and a limited number of ads will be served from Yahoo. Last month, over 30 million Starbucks customers logged into the free internet service offered at most stores, which was recently revamped in July to no longer require a Starbucks loyalty card.
The entire SDN network will take advantage of HTML5 to present its content, including video. [via The Seattle Times]
