Yahoo Releases oneSearch for Mobile and Another Look at Ask.com Mobile
Yahoo Releases oneSearch for Mobile and Another Look at Ask.com Mobile
Yahoo has released their new "oneSearch" service for Yahoo Mobile. It's discussed in this Reuters article and can be seen on any web browser by going to http://us.m.yahoo.com/. Yahoo will release the oneSearch feature on other country/regional Yahoo sites moving forward.
Previously (screen cap), the Yahoo mobile site offered three search buttons labeled "Web," "Images," and "Local."
Differences
Now, a Yahoo Mobile results page can include content from other Yahoo databases. For example, a search for YHOO (Yahoo's ticker symbol) returns three news articles and the current stock price.
A search for George Washington returns Flickr images, web images, and begins with a link to city guide and calendar for New York, NY. Why New York, NY when searching for George Washington? Because it's the last location I searched for. If you search for another location, a city guide will appear when searching for George Washington. Here's an example. Why a city guide would be triggered by a search for a historical figure is interesting.
We also searched for Winston Churchill and received both web and mobile web results. A search suggestion also appears for "pictures." However, after clicking the pictures refinement, imagery of Sir Winston from the Yahoo Image database does not appear on the oneSearch results page.
Perhaps these results are just a case of opening day jitters.
More Examples
A search for Ben Franklin offers info about Ben Franklin, TX. To get info about the person, you'll need to click again. Finally, a search for Bill Clinton returns various results, including images of Kenneth Starr in front of the Supreme Court. Interestingly, a search for Bill Clinton in the Yahoo News Image database returns several images of the former President. The Ken Starr results are being returned because the name Bill Clinton is mentioned in the caption.
One final example -- a search for Continental Airlines -- shows the stock price, and news headlines (3). To access links to Continental's home page and related pages (e.g., to make a reservation), the searcher will need to click again on either the web or business directory links.
Ask.com Mobile
Gary is Director of Online Info Resources at Ask.com, he shares a few comments and examples focusing on Ask.com below. Feel free to click or just move on to more ResourceShelf posts.
Note: Gary is Director of Online Information Resources at Ask.com.
When Ask.com launched Ask Mobile in October 2006, it offered several time-saving capabilities. Btw, Ask Mobile is platform and carrier agnostic and also includes access to some aerial imagery without having to download any software. This is an aerial image of Alcatraz.
When the service first launched, many people asked, "Where's the search box?"
Why doesn't the Ask.com Mobile home page include a search box? Because Ask noticed that as soon as a user sees a search box, he or she starts typing. Period. In the mobile environment, keystrokes mean time and often a lot effort -- especially when the phone or device does not have a QWERTY interface. So, the Ask Mobile page is organized by type of info required. With one click, you access a box for weather info, another for blog search, image search, etc.
In the mobile environment, not only do keystrokes take time and effort, but you also have to factor in bandwidth -- e.g., getting results to load in a timely manner.
Directions are also important in the mobile environment. When you enter "Directions Chicago to Evanston" in Yahoo oneSearch, you get local businesses in Evanston, IL, and links to other categories -- but no help with directions. Of course, directions are available by leaving the results page, heading to the home page and selecting driving directions.
On Ask.com Mobile, the searcher clicks the directions link on the home page, enters the location and the directions appear (both walking and driving) in seconds. Directions are either available as a list or turn-by-turn with visual cues. A user can also quickly reverse the directions by selecting the "swap" link on the home page.
Selecting web search via Ask Mobile offers Zoom Related Results (Narrow, Expand, Related Names). Again, not only useful but also potential keystroke savers. Ask.com Mobile can also save the user time by making past queries available to search again without having to reenter the terms.
Of course, the oneSearch concept itself is very similar to what Ask.com offers with Smart Answers and AskX.
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