Yahoo! deepens Facebook connection

AAP

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YAHOO! says that it is weaving Facebook connections into its popular online services such as email and news.

The move deepens a bond established when Yahoo! home pages began presenting updates from people's friends at the world's most popular online social-networking service.

Beginning in the first half of 2010, Facebook content will be integrated into more of Yahoo!'s online properties, according to Yahoo! vice president of communities Jim Stoneham.

"With this integration, we are opening the door for two of the internet's largest online communities to make it easier for people to stay connected," Stoneham said in a release on Wednesday.

Yahoo! boasts that more than 500 million people worldwide visit its websites monthly, while Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said on Wednesday that the social-networking service's population has topped 350 million.

The partnership will let people share content between Yahoo! and Facebook without having to switch websites. Both Yahoo! and Facebook have opened their websites to outside developers.

"Yahoo! is an ideal partner to integrate with Facebook Connect, enabling users to share meaningful content with their friends on Facebook from Yahoo's wide range of category-leading properties," said Facebook developer network director Ethan Beard.

A pending deal under which Yahoo! online searches will be powered by Microsoft's new Bing engine has Yahoo! relying on popular services such as its web-based email and news to keep fans.

The 10-year web search and advertising partnership unveiled in July sets the stage for a joint Yahoo!-Microsoft offensive against internet titan Google, the leader in the lucrative search and advertising market.