• The Register, Tuesday, August 7, 2007 10:32 AM

Yahoo, in conjunction with the Web publications Slate and the Huffington Post, said it would host the first Web-only U.S. presidential debate. Set for Sept. 12, the event will feature all eight of the Democratic Presidential candidates, and will be Webcast across each of the partners' sites.

As with the CNN/YouTube debate, which was broadcast on CNN in addition to appearing on YouTube, Web users will submit video questions via the Web. As a Web-only event, it will be longer than the YouTube debate. Users also have the ability to slice and dice the online broadcast--they could watch only Hilary Clinton or questions about healthcare, for instance. Questions will be taken in real-time; Charlie Rose of PBS will host the debate.

The CNN/YouTube debate was a smashing success, so it's not surprising that a Google competitor is trying to emulate it. Many feel that public forum-like debates will soon become a dominant debate format. For Yahoo, the debate comes at a time when the Web portal is desperately trying to wrest users away from stickier social media sites like Facebook and MySpace.

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