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Siliconbeat reports that Yahoo 360 will now support notifications to their platform by third party blogging services such as Xanga and Livejournal.

“You'll be able to go to LiveJournal, update a post and have your friends and family members notified of the update,''

Based on Paul Brody's statement (Senior Director of Community Products) this is a big move by Yahoo, and quite contradictory to their pretty consistent business approach of being all things to all people. Is this a defensive move because they entered the blogging game a little late? Maybe, but I don't think so…

Over the years I have watched Yahoo grow by adding as much of the internet as possible directly within their portal so they may maintain a firm grip on visitor eyeballs for as long as possible, all the while their competitor Google seems to be leading the search arena by offering as little as possible… how can this be? Two words: Vertical Focus. 

You will provide more value in being the connector or facilitator of specialty providers who focus on a vertical as opposed to trying to re-create everything yourself . Why lock in customers by only supporting proprietary services which will always be sub-standard without a big budget and focus when you can acquire as much if not more profitability by linking specialty providers to your product portfolio directly or by proxy?

You end up with a higher quality product, most times with only half the investment on your part while mainting your own brand by the mere introduction let alone the added benefit of private labeling which the better suppliers will provide. How long does anyone remain on Google's website? Seconds, where they are merely “introducing” you to other websites. Why then is their brand so recognizable without a huge marketing budget behind it? You remember the value they provide by thier focus and innovation in their particular vertical.

This is especially the case when it comes to tertiary non bread-and-butter features, and is one of the main reasons why our customers choose us to outsource services to. We focus, they profit, we maintain, they interact and benefit by establishing and strengthening the relationship with their customers which is key to any long term stability and success. A server that can be turned off and on can be replaced, but the person who helps you do it can't.

The market will favor those who adopt open standards and understand that their position in this marketplace is as a part of a growing ecosystem of applications your customers will use, and the realization of how you can't compete successfully in all of them at the same time unless your model is dedicated to being a wholesale provider yourself.

It seems Yahoo is finally “getting it”.