ResourceBlog Article: The Search Engine That Isn't a Verb, Yet

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Sunday, 22nd February 2004

The Search Engine That Isn't a Verb, Yet

Web Search--Yahoo
Source: The New York Times
The Search Engine That Isn't a Verb, Yet
What would a Sunday be like without a search article in a major paper? This week, Saul Hansell looks at Yahoo, the company.
Here are a few passages from the article:
+ "Google has become not only a verb but also a profitable company with a reported $1 billion in sales. It is expected to be the hottest initial public offering this year. And now Google is preparing to offer a free e-mail service, people close to the company said, in a bid for Yahoo's most important source of loyal customers."
+ "The playing field is much more level now, and both companies will go full-tilt boogie to retain the crown in search innovation," said John Battelle, who is writing a book on Web search and was a publisher of The Industry Standard, the magazine that was once the voice of the dot-com boom.
+ "But for Mr. Semel to get real value from his $2 billion investment in search companies, he will have to make Yahoo's search product so good that people stop associating search with one word: Google."
+ "Personalization will ultimately change the way search is delivered," Mr. [Jeff] Weiner [Head of Yahoo Search] said. In particular, he hopes that by watching users over time, the search engine can guess what sort of information they are looking for - or, as he put it, 'If you type in flowers, do you want to buy flowers, plant flowers or see pictures of flowers?'"
---
Notes
+ I've said many times that a "personalized" search service Yahoo is already offering (with its shopping site), SmartSort, is not only useful but also easy to use. It's not difficult to think about how this sort of thing could be utilized in many types of searching. You'll notice that in some cases, the order of the results does not change but the text in the blurbs does.
+ SmartSort for library research? Sure, why not? For example:
++ How important are full text articles? Peer reviewed?
++ Books? Would you be willing to wait a few days to get these materials (ILL)?
++ Are certain sources more useful than others?
++ Reading level?
---
Btw, Ask.Com offers (launched in July) SmartAnswers. Direct links to specialized databases or an answer to a ready reference type of question directly on the results page along with a direct link to the source of the answer.
Examples:
+ Pictures of San Francisco
You're taken directly into the Ask.Com image database.
+ When is Veterans Day?
The date for the holiday is listed on the results page.
+ What Does NBA stand for?
Direct link to AcronymFinder.Com
+ Academy Award Best Film 1961
The answer is listed at the top of the results page.

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