“Pipes” is a feature on the Yahoo web site, which is currently in the “beta” development stage. It enables Yahoo members to put together multiple online feeds into a single “pipe”, and lets others (membership not required) specify how they want the combined information to be additionally filtered.

Some examples of Pipes which have been created by Yahoo members include “Australian Music Podcasts”, which lists related podcasts from various sources, “eBay Price Watch”, that allows users to find eBay items by price and keyword, and “GeoAnnotated Reuters News” which lets people click on numbers scattered across a world map and see headlines associated with those locations. Another pipe, “New York Times thru Flickr”, takes phrases from the N.Y. Times home page, adds photos from Flickr.com to them, and associates them with locations on a map.

If you are a Yahoo! member and logged in, you can view the sources and built-in filters which apply to each pipe by clicking the “View Source” link. There is usually a short waiting period while it opens each of the pipes, during which the message “running pipe” appears. Some of the pipes which show up in Yahoo Pipes search results do not function properly or are poorly designed; as with web pages, you may have to try a few before you find one that is useful. The system also features a message board and a substantial amount of documentation on developing and using them.

In the search results for pipes, an icon showing interconnected pipes appears next to each pipe listing. Generally, the more complex the icon, the longer it will take to open the individual “pipe.” However, this is not always true; it appears to be partially dependent upon how many sources the pipe uses. On a high-speed internet connection, the loading time is generally about two to thirty seconds, but it can sometimes be longer. If you are using an older web browser, it will probably be necessary to upgrade it before Yahoo Pipes will function properly.

Overall, Yahoo pipes offer a way to combine, associate, and filter data from two or more online sources. They can make it easier to find information, images, products, audio, and video on various subjects. The system currently has a few undesirable aspects, but these might be corrected when it advances beyond the “beta” stage.

Yahoo Pipes can be accessed at pipes.yahoo.com.