It’s impossible to tell yet what Yahoo’s next gen user experience is all about that “unites services in a social context.”

But it’s the first thing they’ve done that feels like it plays to their strengths and gives the user a reason to participate (not just more advertising).

This is where all of their acquisitions (e.g. del.icio.us, Flickr, Zimbra) could finally start paying off.

Meaning, they could have a semi-open ecosystem with “edge platforms” (places where people hang out) and a lot of legitimate users connected to information is smart ways.

And if they allow other apps/services to plug into it, too, they’ll have something that Google and Microsoft can’t easily reproduce.

What would be truly radical if they pulled that off would be to perfect behavioral advertising as a process so that it was weighted on the side of the consumer rather than the company (that is, do Beacon out in the open and do it right).

Throw mobile into that mix (where Yahoo Research has been innovating for years on top of Flickr) as well and Yahoo would be on its way back.

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