Yahoo! Inc. Wednesday announced that it is extending its Publisher Network in the U.S. to small- and medium-sized web sites. According to a company statement, this will allow the broader publishing community to take advantage of Yahoo!'s relevant advertising products as well as quality content through an easy-to-use self-serve platform.

Initially available in the U.S. through an invitation-only beta, the Yahoo! Publisher Network self-serve platform will allow webmasters to sign up online for Yahoo! advertising products and receive fast, easy access to other syndicated Yahoo! content and products.

"Through the new platform, small- and medium-sized publishers will now have access to the same large advertising network, content and applications capabilities that Yahoo! uses while working with the world's biggest, brand-name publishers," says Yahoo!

"Yahoo! has developed many highly successful relationships with web publishers around the world, and is building on those experiences to bring new revenue sources and compelling content to even more high quality sites," said Bill Demas, senior vice president, Yahoo! Partner Solutions group. "By helping the broader publishing community maximize the value of their sites, we aim to create an even more rewarding Internet experience for publishers, advertisers and users."

The first advertising product Yahoo! will be offering through the beta is its Content Match contextual listings. Content Match enables publishers to place Yahoo!'s contextually-relevant listings on their sites and receive a share of the revenue generated by them. Yahoo! claims its Content Match can help small- and medium-sized publishers monetize valuable site inventory and provide additional qualified leads to Yahoo! advertisers.

The Yahoo! Publisher Network self-serve beta will also provide access to other Yahoo! products, such as "Add to My Yahoo!" and Y!Q Beta. The "Add to My Yahoo!" feature provides publishers of all sizes the ability to promote and distribute their content on Yahoo! via RSS, drive traffic back to their sites and develop repeat daily relationships with their readers. The Y!Q Beta is a first-of-its kind contextual search product that can help webmasters increase the "stickiness" of their sites by providing visitors with convenient, related search results overlaid directly on their website, says Yahoo!

Yahoo! says it plans to offer additional features in the near future to enable publishers to enhance their visitor experience, including "Save to My Web" and Web search. The "Save to My Web" feature enables readers to easily save and share pages from a publisher's site to My Web — Yahoo!'s personal search engine service — increasing return visits and improving loyalty. In addition, Yahoo! says it is conducting tests to evaluate the advertising capabilities of Y!Q and RSS feeds.

To create an ongoing dialogue with its small- and medium-sized publishers, Yahoo! says it has also built feedback channels and opinion surveys into its online Publisher Center that will provide members the opportunity to raise their questions, voice their ideas and express to the company the types of products and services that would be most helpful to them in the future.

"We are deeply committed to the publishing market, which is why we are investing in building meaningful relationships with our publishers over time," said Will Johnson, general manager of the Yahoo! Publisher Network self-serve offering. "Through Yahoo!, publishers have the opportunity share their ideas and help shape current and future products to support the global publishing community."

After completing the initial beta period, Yahoo! aims to expand its self-serve beta program before the end of the year. For more information go to http://publisher.yahoo.com.