Yahoo Shopping has introduced what it terms "social commerce," calling its new offering the "Shoposphere" - and, like the blogosphere, intending it to be a world where users connect and link in various ways - reports InternetNews. Features added Tuesday to the e-commerce section of Yahoo incorporate the social elements of shopping to online. The "Community" features let users rate products, write reviews and create "best of" lists and search for other people's recommendations. Yahoo plans to compensate users for the content they generate, but details are not yet available.

"This is affiliate marketing for the masses," said Rob Solomon, vice president of the Yahoo Shopping Group. "It's citizen merchandizing. It's for anyone who has an interest in expressing their personality through products."

Pick Lists, in beta, lets Yahoo Shopping users create a personalized-page listing of their favorite products, assigning a theme for the lists and personalizing them with notes, their names and a photo. Others can comment on Pick Lists and subscribe to them via RSS. Integration with the Yahoo 360 social networking service allows members to see whether a Pick List author is connected to them.

Yahoo also launched a beta version of its mobile shopping service, allowing cell-phone users to shop or compare prices.