Yahoo! has announced it is to start offering financial advice.

The news comes as the search engine giant looks to increase advertising revenue from the personal finance industry.

Richard Kosinski, business and finance category development officer for Yahoo!, told Clickz News that the finance section was "designed with advertisers in mind".

He said that the search engine company had held 11 sessions with advertisers to assess their needs.

It is set to be the third section of Yahoo!'s information channel to be revamped in the past eight months, following the restructuring of its food and technology divisions.

Meanwhile, Scott Moore, head of Yahoo!'s news and information department, said: "All of these [sections] are designed to provide advertisers with more opportunities to reach our audience."

Under the revamped personal finance section, Yahoo! will offer advice on debt management, budgeting and real estate.

Content will also be provided by sources including The Wall Street Journal and CNN Money.

The announcement could come as good news to British consumers, as the country finds itself in increasing amounts of debt after the Christmas period.

According to financial charity Credit Action, Britain's personal debt stood at £1,278 billion at the end of November 2006.