Blog Focus: Yahoo’s “Project Rushmore” and Facebook Connect
We hear a lot these days about the distributed web, the interconnected web, the social web, this kind of thing. It really hits home though in the real time real world when a mammoth web entity like Yahoo throws in with reigning king of the social webs Facebook on something referred to as nothing less than "Project Rushmore."
Several years ago, Yahoo looked poised to take the social media world on (Teddy Roosevelt-like?), what with purchases of red hot web 2.0 start-ups such as Flickr, del.icio.us, and MyBlogLog. But now…
Confused? Let our bloggy friends explain:
* BoomTown: A few weeks ago, several sources at Yahoo begin telling BoomTown about a mysterious “Project Rushmore,” which was described as a massive integration of major social networking sites across the giant Internet portal.
Now, the first unveiling of Project Rushmore comes with this morning’s announcement that Yahoo (YHOO) will be integrating Facebook Connect with its many properties–from its powerful media sites to its Flickr photo service to its email.
* paidContent: Yahoo says it will begin to roll out Facebook Connect across all of its properties in the first half of the year—and says that will “create a loop that drives visitors back to Yahoo” when users share Yahoo content on the social network. The deal comes as Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz has talked about making her company’s properties more “social."
* Search Engine Land: Facebook will be integrated on properties including Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Answers, Yahoo Sports and others. In addition, you will be able to see your Facebook friends’ activities on Yahoo and share Yahoo content – ratings, photos, article comments, and more – directly on your Facebook stream.
* GigaOM: If more and more sites use Facebook Connect, that is use Facebook ID, the closer company gets to becoming the ultimate identity broker of the web, which in terms helps them achieve their ultimate goal — organize world’s relationships. In comparison, Google which wants to organize world’s information.
* Marketing Pilgrim: OK, so you can’t blame Yahoo for making this move. After all, social networking is Facebook’s strength, and not Yahoo’s. But, I’m starting to worry what Yahoo has left to call it’s “strength.”
(this post originally appeared on Technorati)
