Yahoo Search in a New Improved Avatar

The latest from Yahoo is its revamped search format which recently went live. Though the change is not radical or earth-moving, users can notice some new upgrades and improvements to the features. The most prominent feature is a new left column by which users can now filter results making use of Search Monkey content providers or refine the results by related concepts. The Search Assist tool has undergone an expansion and there is also a prominent placement for Search Pad on the site. Yahoo also claims that the new search format offers improved image and video search along with improved speed and performance.

These new features and changes of Yahoo Search are currently in effect in the US, UK, France, Spain, Mexico and India and will soon be available in other centers too. One must agree that the new format is more visually appealing than the earlier one and the Search Monkey refinements are definitely more useful for the users.

Many feel that the new look and feel of Yahoo Search is along the lines of Bing which is thought to be a potential business threat to Yahoo than to Google Search. Once the Microsoft-Yahoo deal comes through after the regulatory issues are handled, the actual results on both Bing and Yahoo will be the same. If this happens, Yahoo will need to constantly make changes and upgrade its Search interface to appease users or it could lead to loss of usage and fall in its market shares.

I do agree along with most users that the Search Monkey feature is the most useful and prominent among all the new changes but they could make it more personalized by allowing users to select their favorite filter. Though we were all led to believe that Yahoo had given up on its search engine, the new upgrades are surprising and pleasant to its faithful users.

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