Yahoo Joins Tweeting Craze

As part of its latest attempt to make its site more useful, Yahoo announced a partnership with Twitter. Although most of the new features won't be available until later this year, one of the upcoming features will allow anyone with a Twitter account to tweet and see the updates of people they're tracking while they are logged in to the Yahoo Web site.

One change has already taken place: Yahoo is now displaying a wider range of Twitter updates in its search results. Google and Microsoft have been displaying Twitter search results since late last year. Like its rivals, Yahoo will pay Twitter for better access to its data. Prior to this announcement, Yahoo had been using Twitter's free tools to find tweets that pointed to the latest news regarding hot topics.

One of the ways in which Yahoo will differentiate itself from Microsoft and Google is that Yahoo plans to turn its Web site into a tweeting perch. By tethering its site to Facebook (another new feature coming before July) and this partnership with Twitter, Yahoo hopes to make it easier for people to share information and images via their social networking accounts without leaving the Yahoo Web site. By encouraging people to stay on the site, Yahoo will benefit from a greater chance to show Internet ads and generate revenue.