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AS OF 12/4/2008 2:39AM EST

MySpace Goes OpenID
By Alex Handy

July 22, 2008 — This is an update to a story originally posted on July 22; it now includes figures on the total number of OpenID users, in the final paragraph.

In one swift move on Tuesday, MySpace nearly doubled the number of OpenID users on the Internet.

The company has adopted the OpenID open standard for identity, which has been popular among Web 2.0 applications and bloggers since its inception, as the social networking site has added OpenID credentials to each user account. MySpace users can now use their MySpace account as the foundation of their online identity, noted the company.

OpenID requires the use of a Web site to verify identity. Typically, this is done by adding an API key or some other secret text to a page within that site. When prompted to identify oneself, an OpenID user will add the key or secret text to his or her blog as a reference point, then invoke the URL of the reference in applications using OpenID. When the text embedded in the site is recognized, the OpenID application associates the user with that blog, and thus validates their identity.

Since most MySpace users aren't the type to host their own blog or Web site, they can now use their MySpace page as the reference point of their OpenID.

Jim Benedetto, senior vice president of technology for MySpace, said that OpenID is the only viable method of creating a solid online identity across multiple sites. “We wanted the largest open standard for authentication on the Internet, and OpenID is really it. The only way these are going to work is if they have open standards. It's the same reason our data availability initiatives are supporting open social REST APIs.”

Prior to this announcement, Yahoo had been the largest provider of OpenIDs, with what that company says is around a quarter of a billion registered users. MySpace's adoption adds what is reported to be roughly 200 million users to the OpenID pool, now estimated to be in the neighborhood of a half-billion.

Related Search Term(s): OpenID, MySpace

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