On deck

LinkedIn availed its back-end to developers this week. Initial developers include BusinessWeek, which will deploy an app that links keywords, like company names, to LinkedIn contacts through a pop-up box.

The professional social network aims to transform its site from an online contacts and referral database to "an indispensable daily tool for business users," according to The Globe and Mail.

The Intelligent Applications platform — the name for LinkedIn's third party developer project — was orchestrated specifically to improve site functionality. Developers must gain approval from LinkedIn before their applications go public.

Facebook, which does not assess the quality of its third-party apps, is currently flooded with an eclectic array of them.

Like that other social networking site, LinkedIn will also include a news feed that details user actions and aggregates news from 10,000 blogs and publishers.

The site will join Google's ambitious OpenSocial developer network.

In October, LinkedIn attracted 17 million users globally and around 5 million unique visitors in the US, making it the fastest growing social network in that month.

Rumors were recently squashed that News Corp. was planning on purchasing LinkedIn, though the two are contemplating partnership opportunities.