p2pnet news | Products:- Are Yahoo’s plans reinvent itself to become yet another so-called social network-type thingie too little and too late?

That’s what eWeek is wondering.

It’s, “refusing to wilt under Microsoft’s hungry gaze,” unveiling a strategy to make its network, “more open,” says the story, going on:

“Yahoo plans to let programmers write applications for Yahoo’s mail, sports, search, front page and mobile platforms that will jazz up the user experience for the portal’s 500 million-plus users.”

According to the New York Times, “The idea is to let the hundreds of millions of people who use its Web mail, instant messaging, calendar, photo management and other online services replicate the social experience that social networks like MySpace and Facebook have made so popular.

“This means that Yahoo users will have a profile under which their Yahoo services will fall, and which users will be able to customize by adding applications. This profile will also simplify the map of connections between Yahoo users so that they can find each other and interact more easily and efficiently.”

It’s always interesting to see the words ‘let’ or ‘allow’ in these kinds of stories as though the companies involved are generously granting people permission to use their ’services’ when in fact, they’re desperately seeking new ways to lure them to the sites so they can be exposed to advertisements.

“Literally, we’ll be able to allow consumers to put applications on their front page developed by developers outside of Yahoo,” eWeek has Yahho CTO Ari Balogh saying, “calling to mind what Google has done with its Gadget widgets for iGoogle personalized home pages”.

However, “The heady plans are smart but, quite likely, come too late,” says eWeek, adding, “Despite Yahoo’s April 22 announcement of decent first-quarter earnings, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has stated that Microsoft is not inclined to raise its $31 per share offer for Yahoo.

“If anything, Search Monkey and the other products Yahoo has rushed to announce or deliver since Microsoft made its initial bid Feb. 1 have only painted a better picture of how buying Yahoo would get Microsoft closer to Google.”

The story also notes Microsoft has set tomorrow as the deadline for Yahoo’s board to accept a deal or face a lower bid that it would take directly to Yahoo’s shareholders.

. .Stumble It!

eWeek - Is Yahoo`s Social Platform Too Little, Too Late?, April 24, 2008
New York Times - Yahoo to Radically Open Its Platforms, April 24, 2008

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 6:19 am and is filed under Product News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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