Yahoo applies 'do not track' site-wide

Portal joins browsers in spreading DNT mechanism

Yahoo has joined the growing band of web companies to introduce "do not track" (DNT) mechanisms into products and services.

DNT will be applied across Yahoo's site including Yahoo-owned Right Media and Interclick.

DNT enables users to opt out of the tracking technologies that internet companies use to model user behaviour based on the sites they have visited.

Amid mounting awareness of online privacy issues, DNT has been called for by the European Commission and by the US Government.

It has been adopted by leading browsers, such as Firefox, Internet Explorer and more recently Chrome, and has the backing of privacy groups and industry bodies, such as the US-based Interactive Advertising Bureau.

A DNT "header solution" has been in development since last year, says Yahoo, and will provide a simple step for consumers to express their ad targeting preferences to the company.