Yahoo! no longer handles search alone

The recent business deal between Yahoo! and Microsoft has created a lot of interest because it is the merging of two great online powers. One of the reasons Yahoo! has given for the handing over of the role of search to Microsoft is because Yahoo! could no longer manage to compete with Microsoft and Google in terms of how much money they could invest in search and their search technology.

The most obvious and rewarding step for Yahoo! was therefore to join with one of their major competitors, uniting and creating an even more competitive force. However, the companies still face some hard times ahead and some possible struggles before they can operate in the way they hope and plan will be possible.

Yahoo! says it will still be an important contributor to the search service users actually use and experience. Yahoo! is currently creating and testing new features that can be added to the search engine page and that could improve user satisfaction. A new column that will be displayed on the left side of the search results shown to a user who has placed a search query is one new addition that Yahoo! hopes will make searching easier and more efficient for the user. This column will feature certain popular websites that often feature relevant information and results such as Wikipedia and Amazon.

Another new addition will allow a search carried out using the search engine to automatically be based and related to previous searches when the contexts match. For example, if a user had searched for something on one topic, and then searched for something else related to this topic but not specifically described it as such and mentioned the topic in the search box, relevant results using the information from the previous search would then be shown to the user. Related concepts can also be featured to allow the user quick and easy access. This feature could be advantageous for the user by saving them time and effort when searching.

Even though Bing will take over search from Yahoo! if the deal continues to go ahead, Yahoo! still plans to make an important contribution and work with those involved in search. If the agreement between Yahoo! and Microsoft does fall through due to issues with regulators, Yahoo! will be left in a vulnerable position because it has stated it can no longer operate search on its own. However, with these new innovations and passion to improve the search user experience, it is likely that Yahoo! will continue to play a significant role.

At SEO Consult we know the significance of the joining of Yahoo! and Microsoft for search. Whilst many sites are currently optimised specifically for Google and Google remains the most popular search engine in the world, this merge between Yahoo! and Microsoft does establish the companies as a more competitive and able force. Therefore, the development of search offered by these companies is important and requires the attention of those involved in search engine optimisation. At SEO Consult we help our clients to use the most suitable and effective search engine optimisation techniques so that they will be ranked highly by all of the major search engines.

Related posts:

1. Google reaction to Microsoft and Yahoo! deal
2. Is Google against the Microsoft and Yahoo! merger?
3. Microsoft and Yahoo! unite
4. Effect of Microsoft & Yahoo! deal on pay per click advertisers
5. Yahoo local search increases usefulness of service

Tags: Bing SEO, Competition Analysis

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 9:54 am and is filed under SEO Industry News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.