Yahoo will block Google and Facebook accounts from accessing its services

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is transforming her company, one product at a time. But if you want to use those products, you'll need a Yahoo sign-in. According to Reuters, Yahoo will begin removing the option to sign into any of Yahoo's services with a Facebook or Google account, both options which have been available for years. Starting with "Yahoo Sports Tourney Pick 'Em," a fantasy college basketball service, the company says it will eventually remove Facebook and Google sign-in buttons from all its products.

While we're not quite sure what Yahoo's exact justifications are for the move or how many users might  find themselves needing a new identity, the company presumably believes that its services are now attractive enough that Facebook and Google account holders can be compelled to switch — or at least that those who might turn their back on Yahoo now aren't as valuable as those who stay. Genuine Yahoo IDs might make users more likely to use other Yahoo services, and their activity can be tracked and experience personalized more easily. Recently, Yahoo freed up a number of new Yahoo usernames by retiring abandoned identities.

A Yahoo representative confirmed the story to The Verge, and provided the following statement: "This new process, which now asks users to sign in with a Yahoo username, will allow us to offer the best personalized experience to everyone."