Yahoo will stop letting consumers access its various online
services, including Fantasy Sports and photo-sharing site Flickr, by signing-in
with their Facebook or Google credentials.
The change, which will be rolled out gradually according to
a Yahoo spokeswoman, will require users to register for a Yahoo ID in order to
use any of the Internet portal's services.
The move marks the latest change to Yahoo by Chief Executive
Marissa Mayer, who is striving to spark fresh interest in the company's Web
products and to revive its stagnant revenue.
"Yahoo is continually working on improving the user
experience," the company said in a statement, noting that the new process
"will allow us to offer the best personalised experience to
everyone".
The first Yahoo service to require the new sign-in process
is Yahoo Sports Tourney Pick'Em, a service focused on the NCAA college
basketball tournament which begins later this month. News of the change to
Yahoo's Tourney Pick'Em sign-in process was first reported by the technology
blog Betanews.
Since Mayer took the reins in 2012, the company has rolled
out new versions of many of its key products, including Yahoo Mail and Yahoo
Finance. Last year, Yahoo announced a program to recycle inactive Yahoo user
IDs, letting new users claim email addresses that have not been used for more
than 12 months.
In eliminating the Facebook and Google sign-in features,
Mayer, a former Google executive, is effectively reversing a strategy that
Yahoo adopted in 2010 and 2011 under then CEO Carol Bartz.
The change to the Tourney Pick'Em sign-in process began on
Monday, the Yahoo spokeswoman said, noting that users could still access other
services with Google or Facebook IDs.
The sign-in buttons for Facebook and Google will eventually
be removed from all Yahoo properties, the Yahoo spokeswoman, though she
declined to provide a timeframe.
