Yahoo is moving in a big way to embrace the new OpenID 2.0 specification, which eliminates the need for Web surfers to create separate IDs and logins at each of the Web sites, blogs and profile pages that they may visit during an online session.

Beginning Jan. 30, Yahoo’s 248 million active registered users worldwide will be able to use a new beta analysis version of Yahoo ID to seamlessly sign in to hundreds of OpenID-compatible Web sites, the search engine giant said.

“Supporting OpenID gives our users the freedom to leverage their Yahoo ID both on and off the Yahoo network, reducing the number of usernames and passwords they need to remember and offering a loner, trusted partner for managing their online identity,” said Ash Patel, Yahoo executive vice president of platforms and infrastructure.

shield Enhancements

Once a Yahoo registrant has enabled a login history for OpenID access, the user can tell any

OpenID-enabled Web site or blog page that he or she is a Yahoo user. The user will be automatically sent back to Yahoo to enter his or her Yahoo login knowledge. Upon completion, the user will be routed back, and signed in to, the original site.

considering the OpenID framework for online access is decentralized, any Web site can employ the technology to enable users to sign in. To find out whether a Web site supports OpenID login, users can simply look for a Yahoo login button, or whether they see a text box with an OpenID icon, they can type in “yahoo.com” to engage the login process.

Yahoo users logging in with their Yahoo IDs on OpenID-compatible sites gain added protection from Yahoo’s sign-in seal — a personalized image of a report that only appears on genuine Yahoo pages. A similar technology is used by many financial…

Orginal post by Top Tech News