Did you notice the change in your Yahoo login screen? You can now log in to your Yahoo account even without a Yahoo ID. Yes, that’s right. You can login using your Facebook or Google credentials instead. Yahoo has come up with the long awaited facility of OpenID to all its users.
The phenomenon of OpenID is a decentralized system which is not dependent on one central authority for the authentication of the users’ identity. Moreover, there is no specific service or standard to determine the authentication of the users. And thus, the system allows a wide range of approaches (from the traditional passwords to the latest biometrics or smart cards) for the authentication of users.
It is like a New Year gift to all the Yahoo users. Now, the followers of Yahoo can easily share their articles & blogs, post comments and play various exciting games by using their Google or Facebook login details.
It is an important move from Yahoo and definitely a welcome one. Earlier the company used to pop up the login screens whenever the visitors wanted to do anything on their site. The facility of OpenID by Yahoo is initiated to increase the company’s fortune by raising the number of users.
It may be remembered that Yahoo, once upon a time ruled the roost. But there has been a substantial reduction in the number of users as other websites started offering the OpenID login.
Yahoo also plans to expand its openness to other different parties in the upcoming months. Last year, the company permitted its users to access Flickr (its photo sharing website) by logging in from Google through OpenID.
According to TechCrunch, Flickr had a 20% increase in its list of users since then.