Most people and publications rely on the Associated Press Stylebook, but Yahoo is set to release its own version of writing guidelines, The Yahoo! Style Guide: The Ultimate Sourcebook for Writing, Editing, and Creating Content for the Digital World.

When I found out, I was intrigued to know the differences in the style guides, and why Yahoo would release a book when AP has already set the standard on so many popular terms such as website and Web page. Yahoo claims that their book is unique because it offers guidelines solely for writing on the Web, and touches on topics including helping users optimize Web pages.

My question is, can these two editorial guides work together to help users, or will they just confuse everyone?

Colleen Newvine, a Product Manager for The AP Stylebook, said the books offer guidance for everyone. “If you are a journalist who needs to learn more about search engine optimization or writing for mobile devices, the Yahoo guide might offer guidance you won’t find in the AP Stylebook. Similarly, a blogger or website designer might turn to the AP Stylebook for help on language usage,” she said.

But Newvine thinks that The AP Stylebook will be the go-to guide because it offers a broader guide for language, grammar, punctuation, and usage. “Yahoo sounds like they are targeting a narrower niche, focusing on a specific need of some writers,” she said. “Journalists hold the AP Stylebook near and dear,” she added. Unfortunately, Yahoo will not yet comment on the matter.

Most people say that because AP has already set style guidelines, there’s not much need for the Yahoo guide.

Benjamin Roosien, an editorial professional with Michigan State University’s WIDE program, said that AP standards give writing a journalistic feel, which he believes translates well for the Web. He thinks that Web and print readers appreciate the concise style that AP standards, which are used by most newspapers, “It’s this brevity that makes me think most publications, including magazines, should, and will, continue to use AP style,” Roosien said.

Lorna Garey, Content Director for InformationWeek Analytics, said she does not see the need for The Yahoo! Style Guide.

“Why reinvent the wheel? So many editors know AP, I don’t see the point in starting over,” she said. She added most outlets have supplemental style guides to cover things that AP does not, and organizations will still turn to those sorts of things when they are not sure what ruling to stick with.

Sandy Young, a freelance writer known as The AP Stylist at SoCalPRBlog.com, does not think there should be separate standards for Web and print. She said that because print material is available on the Web, it would take too much time to reformat content to meet Web standards. Instead, she said AP should provide more comprehensive Web guidelines. “That way there will be one guide for all written formats. Too many guides will just lead to confusion,” she said.

Some interesting things…

AP Style says the word blog is okay, while Yahoo agrees but says it should only be referred to as weblog when describing the origin of the word. But Yahoo says webpage should be one word, while AP says it should be Web page. The only time AP uses a lower case reference for a Web reference is in website, which it recently changed from two words into one. Surprisingly, they both agree on the style for Internet, which is one word capitalized. There are differences between both guides, which adds to some of the discrepancies that have people talking about the guides.

Regardless who sets the guidelines for online writing, one thing is for sure: Not everyone will play by the same set of rules.