Yahoo and Al Gore launch YouTube rival

Yahoo Current Network will feature content generated by users and paid staff

Yahoo has partnered with CurrentTV to create a new contender in the increasingly crowded user-driven video space.

CurrentTV is a US cable network co-founded by former US presidential candidate and former vice president Al Gore.

The joint venture, dubbed the Yahoo Current Network, will feature content generated by users and paid staff across four categories. 

However, unlike other user-video sites where the only reward is a bit of notoriety and several thousand MySpace links, the best videos in each of the four categories will receive $500 and airplay on CurrentTV.

The Yahoo Current Network launch comes one day after Microsoft unveiled a beta version of its Soapbox video-sharing service.  

Both moves signal a growing corporate interest in the field that has until recently been dominated by YouTube. 

Like other video-sharing sites, Yahoo Current Network will allow users to rate, share and comment on videos, as well as subscribe to individual channels and link videos from blogs.

Unlike the other sites, however, Yahoo Current Network aims to take user content in a set direction.

"The mission has always been to spark a global conversation among young adults. Partnering with Yahoo helps us advance this mission," said Gore.

But critics questioned whether the connection with CurrentTV and the focus on specialised fields will help the new network rise above the mire of Mentos-Coke rockets and backyard wrestling clips.