Yahoo joins Google's OpenSocial network

Yahoo Inc. has joined Google Inc. and News Corp.'s MySpace to promote a universal standard for developing applications on social networking websites.

The three companies said on Tuesday they will create an independent non-profit OpenSocial Foundation to maintain a neutral and community-governed forum for developing applications.

"OpenSocial has been a community-driven specification from the beginning," Joe Kraus, Google's director of product management, saidin a statement.

"The formation of this foundation will ensure that it remains so in perpetuity. Developers and websites should feel secure that OpenSocial will be forever free and open."

Assets will be assigned to the new foundation by July 1, the companies said.

The addition of Yahoo is another big boost for the OpenSocial initiative, which Google launched in October.

The popularity of social networks like MySpace and Facebook has spurred the development of a growing number of smaller, interactive programs called "widgets" that work within the websites, allowing users to share music, video, pictures or play interactive games.

Software developers are attracted to the social networks because they provide a huge potential market for their programs, while social networks have encouraged the implementation of widgets because they add to the social network's utility.

Facebook, in particular, found success in working with designers to develop applications specifically for their platform.

Google's OpenSocial network was established to create an open application programming interface so software developers could create web applications that will work on any participating social network site.

Social networks MySpace, Bebo, hi5 and Google's orkut had already committed to adopting the OpenSocial standards.

Facebook, however, has yet to do so. Instead, in December it opened its own platform to developers and other social networks. Only one social network, Bebo, has committed to follow the standards of both OpenSocial and Facebook.