Yahoo challenges Dow Jones, Reuters

SEATTLE: Yahoo Inc. has agreed to take in data directly from stock exchanges to offer financial data to its users as well as other Web sites, the Internet media company said.

Yahoo's new service puts the Sunnyvale, California, company into more direct competition against other financial data providers such as Dow Jones & Co Inc. and Reuters Group Plc, which also license data directly from exchanges such as the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange.

Craig Forman, vice president, information and finance, said that Yahoo would continue to license data from providers such as Reuters, but said the company wanted have "greater control and flexibility" over the financial data it receives and distributes.

"We're the No. 1 financial Web site on the Internet," Forman said, adding that Yahoo's Finance section -- http://finance.yahoo.com -- has gained enough recognition as a brand to be sold to other Web outlets.

"Now we're expanding that strategy of syndication to include financial information," Forman said.

Forbes.com will be one of the first financial Web sites to license Yahoo's new data services, and offer mutual fund charting capabilities.

Yahoo's own stock quotes and other financial information have been powered by its new financial data feed for the past few weeks, Forman said.

Last September, Yahoo created a "Weekend Edition" of its specialized news aimed at Saturday and Sunday users of its finance section.

Yahoo is aiming to attract more users to its Web site in order to sell more advertising. Dow Jones' Wall Street Journal financial daily has expanded its own online "Personal Journal" section featuring lifestyle and leisure content aimed at the high-income readers that many advertisers covet.