Yahoo Joins Forces With UK Social-Networker Bebo

Net mainstay will bring advertising to Britain's top networking site

By Sam Gale Rosen, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 12, 2007 2:38 PM CDT

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Yahoo Joins Forces With UK Social-Networker Bebo — * *FILE ** Yahoo! employee Charles Honig walks outside of Yahoo! headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif. in this March 7, 2001 file photo. Yahoo has so thoroughly been eclipsed by Google that a growing contingent of Yahoo shareholders believes the company would be better off without CEO Terry Semel, who... (Associated Press)

Internet giant Yahoo and networking site Bebo will collaborate on advertising in the UK and Ireland, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bebo—launched in 2005— hasn't taken off in the US, but it's the top social-networking website in Britain. Yahoo will sell the bulk of Bebo's banner and video ads, which analysts say will boost Yahoo's advertising revenue and target younger surfers.

The international president of Bebo says that the service continues to be "cautious" about advertising. She promises the site will not make profiles viewable to search engines (a la Facebook), and that in general only one ad will run per page. For Yahoo, the deal is a chance to kick-start growth and profits, both flagging recently. (More Yahoo stories.)

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