Yahoo 360 to offer blogs, social networking

SAN FRANCISCO: Yahoo Inc. said it will soon start invitation-only testing of its new Web log and social networking service Yahoo 360, which aims to better connect users to people they already know.

The Yahoo 360 test release will mark the first time the company provides a service to create and share Web logs, also known as blogs, in the United States. Yahoo already offers such tools in some international markets like Japan and South Korea.

Available March 29, the free test will integrate Yahoo's existing products, such as instant messenger, photos, local search, music and groups with new offerings such as blogs, mobile blogs and sharing tools for recommending movies, restaurants and other items.

Yahoo plans to offer a broader test of the service within six weeks of the initial beta release.

Yahoo's 360 announcement comes amid growing investment in blogging and social networking technology by other Internet companies like Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

The home-grown technology will give users complete control over who sees their content, said Julie Herendeen, Yahoo's vice president of network products.

Yahoo, which garners most of its revenue from advertising, said there are no current plans to put ads on Yahoo 360.

"We'll keep evaluating opportunities as we move forward," Herendeen said.

Blogs and social networking have each drawn significant user interest and venture capital dollars in recent months and have become an increasingly popular venue for self-publishing content for the Internet's large audience.

Microsoft late last year added MSN Spaces, a blogging service, to its MSN Internet service.

Google bought Blogger creator Pyra Labs in early 2003. The Web search company also has runs an affiliated social networking service called Orkut.