Yahoo is about to make a radical change to its home page — mostly trying to make it a more personal experience. It begins testing the page, on a small basis, today, Reuters reports.

For any of you out there who get a chance to play around with it, let us know what you think.

For the moment, here’s what were looking at…

The new home page relies on slick personalization technology that allows users who have signed into their Yahoo account to see when new information arrives not just on Yahoo sites, like e-mail or news, but off-Yahoo on sites such as eBay Inc’s auctions or Google Inc’s Gmail service.

Instead of whisking people to these sites, users can see a preview of the information while staying on the home page, which allows them to quickly navigate across a range of their favorite sites.

Why is Yahoo tinkering with the site? Well, let’s remember that this is a company locked in a battle for Internet popularity with Google (who it also has an ad deal with — see below). And shareholders have been grumbling ever since a potential merger with Microsoft fell through, The Wall Street Journal points out.

Caroline Dangson, a research analyst who covers new media and entertainment for IDC who was briefed on the new design, says the new look is appealing but by itself likely isn’t enough to help Yahoo leapfrog its competitors. “I don’t think the physical look is going to change things,” she said.

Keep an eye on:

• Microsoft is preparing to pull its TV ads featuring comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft’s co-founder and chairman Bill Gates. (LA Times)
• Google plans to move ahead with Yahoo in implementing its advertising search deal and believes that rival Microsoft is behind plans to derail the deal. (Reuters)
• Advertisers are moving forward with deals they signed last spring for billions of dollars in television commercial time, and remain willing to pay top dollar for additional spots, two top media executives said. (Reuters)
• CNBC has drawn its highest audiences since the 2001 terror attacks with its coverage of the Wall Street crises this week. (WSJ.com)

(Photo: Reuters)

It looks like CNBC will have to figure out another way to bring in the viewers when the Apple 3G iPhone comes out. The old tried-and-true method, bringing on Wall Street Journal personal technology columnist Walt Mossberg, isn’t going to work anymore.

We got a press release, but will defer to Silicon Alley Insider, which looks like it had the news first — Walt is going to the Fox Business Network instead:

Mossberg is scheduled to appear weekly on Fox Business Network, meaning he will no longer be doing his “Personal Technology” segments on CNBC. Mossberg’s last appearance on CNBC was last week, sources said. He’ll start on FBN on Wednesday with an 11 a.m segment with morning co-anchors Dagen McDowell and Brian Sullivan. His regular weekly spot will be Thursdays at 11 a.m.

And here’s the canned quote from the Fox Business press release, attributed to Fox News Executive VP Kevin Magee:

“Walt is the most well-respected personal technology reporter in the industry, and his insights on new products not only influences consumer purchasing behavior but the technology sector as a whole. We are pleased to welcome him to FBN.”

We like David Pogue and Rob Pegoraro too, but there’s no arguing with Mossberg’s influence on regular people aching to throw their money at gadgets.

The media angle to all this is that CNBC was supposed to have a exclusive agreement for Journal talent appearing on its show, but as Silicon Alley Insider notes, this applies to business news and “regularly-scheduled branded segments.”

CNBC declined to comment.