Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) will begin offering search results that are ranked by real-time popularity among web users as early as this week, according to reports.

The search engine has struck a non-revenue sharing deal with start-up OneRiot Inc, a real-time search engine, which will allow Yahoo to rank some search results based upon the links shared over sites like Twitter and Digg in real-time, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The partnership with OneRiot is said to be separate from the deal Yahoo struck with Microsoft (MSFT), which involved the outsourcing of some of Yahoo's search capabilities, a person familiar with the matter told the Journal.

OneRiot has struck more than 70 partnerships with companies using its free application programming interface, including Microsoft, a spokeswoman for the search engine said. Microsoft currently offers One-Riot real-time search results through a browser add-on for Internet Explorer 8.

OneRiot declined to comment on reports of a partnership with Yahoo. Yahoo confirmed that it is testing "a new search shortcut that will include real-time results at the top of the search results page.  The shortcut will only appear on certain queries that will be determined by Yahoo," a spokesperson for the company told FOX Business in an email.

Yahoo said the test is looking to determine whether or not a display of real-time results is useful to Yahoo Search users.  

"Yahoo! is focused on creating the most innovative, easy-to-use and valuable search experience for people, and after this test we will carefully evaluate whether we should integrate such results for everyone using Yahoo! Search," the spokesperson said.

Shares of Yahoo were trading at $15.72 a share, down 13 cents on Tuesday afternoon on the NASDAQ.