The Economist has revamped the homepage of its website cutting the length and the number of adverts on the page.

A letter on the site announces the key changes:

• Shorter page – long lists of articles replaced with ‘pithier selection’
• Less advertisements
• Shorter left-hand navigation bar – sub-sections revealed by scrolling over headings
• Rotating top stories – four headline stories will rotate at the top of the page
• More prominence to blog content and columns
• ‘Most recommended’, ‘Most read’ and ‘Most commented on’ story lists
• Section linking to Economist events and promotions

“Those of you who were familiar with (and even fond of) the previous version will naturally wonder: why the change? We wanted to do three main things—make the page simpler, deeper and more enjoyable for the reader,” says the announcement.

Comments on the redesign are welcomed and an online feedback form has been set up.

Reactions so far have been largely negative with criticism for the ‘uncluttered’ look and one commenter remarking: “It feels like going from Web 2.0 to Web 0.1”.