Internet giant Yahoo and online social networking major Twitter are to join hands in an effort to enhance further the appeal of both to the ever-growing online communities across the world.
Under a deal, Yahoo will integrate Twitter into its collection of websites, an official said.
The partnership will allow web users to view the messages created by Twitter users directly within Yahoo sites as well as to publish their own Tweets without leaving Yahoo.
Yahoo is to announce the partnership Wednesday but most of the features will be available only later this year. Already, Yahoo started to show a wider range of Twitter updates in its search results Tuesday, similar to what Google and Microsoft (Bing) started late last year.
Yahoo hasn’t announced how it is paying Twitter for better access to its data.
Two months ago, Yahoo announced a similar deal with Facebook, the world’s No.1 social networking site.
Earlier this month, Google launched Google Buzz offering many social networking features. However, the service faced a lot of flak regarding its alleged invasion of privacy.
Facebook and Twitter pose an increasing threat to established Internet giants like Yahoo and Google.
Yahoo plans to display a live stream of Tweets within other online properties later this year. Unlike Google and Microsoft, Yahoo plans to turn its Web site into a Tweeting perch.
By some estimates, Facebook now attracts a bigger audience than Yahoo. And Twitter distributes an average of 50 million Tweets per day, up from 2.5 million per day at the beginning of last year, according to the company’s statistics.
The new Facebook connection on Yahoo is supposed to be available before July. Yahoo hasn’t specified when people will be able to Tweet from its site.