These days, the web of connections between various social media sites, search engine giants, old software stand bys and hot Internet startups is starting to look like the diagram of an incestuous group of teenagers. And today, that web got one more strand, as Yahoo and Twitter announced a partnership that will bring the two companies closer together.
The deal comes on the heels of this morning’s revelation that Twitter will be soon unveiling an advertising platform, which means more tweets seen in more places, and therefore more revenue.
The Los Angeles Times quotes Twitter co-founder Bizz Stone on the significance of the deal.
“The information in one single tweet can travel light years farther with this Yahoo integration,” Stone said in a statement. “Tweets in more places brings relevance where and when you need it most.”
According to a press release by Yahoo, the deal will bring Twitter’s content to Yahoo’s network of nearly 600 million people worldwide. For Yahoo, this brings Twitter to the table where it had already seated next to social network giant Facebook, but we think this might be an even better deal for Twitter.
The press release breaks down the partnership into three key areas. First, Twitter feeds will be available across Yahoo, from the home page to mail and beyond. Yahoo’s users will also be able to update Twitter and share content directly from Yahoo. Search results will also contain tweets as well as a number of Yahoo media properties, such as news, finance, entertainment and sports.
Of course, while we see this as a big deal for Twitter, our recent conversation with Gigya CEO David Yovanno tells us that for Yahoo to stay in the game, deals like this are necessary. Social networks are quickly becomming bigger traffic-driving forces than search engines, so integration is key.
Kara Swisher, of the All Things Digital blog, explains that Twitter’s content will be woven in throughout Yahoo’s content as part of Yahoo’s “Project Rushmore“, which looks to integrate social media into the Internet portal.
There have been a number of deals like this in recent weeks. Microsoft last week struck a similar deal with both Facebook and Myspace, as well as LinkedIn, to bring social media streams to Outlook. Just last fall, Twitter made deals with both Microsoft and Google to bring tweets to search results on those services.
Soon enough, it seems there won’t be a dark or dusty corner of the Web that remains untouched by the latest 140-character slice of life your social network chooses to share. And with Twitter’s recent rash of hirings, this announcement, in conjunction with their announcement of an ad platform, means the microblog can afford to pay its employees and hopefully unveil some interesting new features in the future.
