Can Buzz beget buzz?

After announcing the debut of a new ad exchange, Yahoo has launched a digg competitor.

Yahoo Buzz identifies top news and blog posts from around the web, based on user votes and search patterns. A "BuzzScore" helps rate news, video, images, or blog posts around the web, reports Computerworld.

Yahoo Buzz is currently in beta, with 100 publishers on board. It will eventually be open to all publishers. Participants will be given a "badge" that allows readers to vote and submit stories.

Yahoo Buzz also lets users submit stories to social sites like Digg, Facebook, Reddit and StumbleUpon.

Mashable calls Buzz an attempt by Yahoo to catch up with the times. Google and Facebook launched digg-style features on their sites in 2007. And in November, the Wall Street Journal added digg buttons to its stories.