Yahoo strikes deal to allow direct links into Facebook

Yahoo has signed a deal to integrate its online services into Facebook from the first half of next year.

Yahoo has been eager to tap into the expansive social networking market, and the arrangement will give its sites renewed exposure to Facebook's 350 million users worldwide.
 
Under the arrangement, Yahoo will meld its news content, email service and photo-sharing site Flickr directly into the Facebook feed.
 
Likewise, users of both sites will be able to connect with their Facebook friends from Yahoo, and view a feed of their friends' recent activities across Yahoo's range of sites.
 
“As one of the largest sites on the Web, Yahoo is an ideal partner to integrate with Facebook Connect,” Facebook Developer Network director Ethan Beard said.
 
The deal extends an existing partnership deal reached early this year. Yahoo already allows Facebook users to stream and update their status from the Yahoo homepage, provides “Share on Facebook” options on a range of its content, and lets Facebook access its Yahoo Contacts service.
 
Facebook Connect provides a universal ID that subscribers can use to log into participating sites with their Facebook credentials.