Stock quotes have always been the core piece of the financial information we provide on Yahoo! Finance. In fact, Yahoo! Finance originally launched under the name “Yahoo! Quotes” back in 1996, offering what now seems like the most basic of all financial data. In the process, we helped change the way average investors make financial decisions, and even took some of the weight out of your daily newspaper.

Now, 12 years later, our name has changed and our site has expanded, but our focus on providing the most reliable and timely market information has stayed the same. Today, we’re pleased to bring free real-time quotes back to Yahoo! Finance. As of today, unlimited access to the most current U.S. stock quotes, as of the last trade, are available to all of our users.

It’s a concept we’ve offered before, and one we’ve been focused on bringing back to our users since free real-time quotes were removed from Yahoo! Finance in 2006 when marketplace consolidation made obtaining this information virtually impossible.

We know how important this data was to your financial decisions because you told us, we listened, and we found a solution. Today we begin a partnership with BATS Trading, the electronic communication network and industry leader in free real-time market data. BATS is providing real-time U.S. quotes to Yahoo! Finance at no cost, and we in turn, provide it to you.

What does this mean for you? Business as usual — only better. As you check your stocks on Yahoo! Finance, your free real-time quote will stream right onto your quote summary page.

Check it out for yourself in real time, and check back as we roll real-time data features into new areas of Yahoo! Finance.

Mark Interrante
VP and GM of Yahoo! Finance