My Web On Yahoo: Search Engine Socialization

Yahoo cranked out one of its best new features into the SEO struggle for supremacy. Whereas Google and MSN have their strong points, Yahoo continues to keep the same personal touch they're known for In this new My Web 2.0 (beta), Yahoo really makes their case for remaining the pioneer in search engine optimization. Yahoo bills the new version of AEG. Then, since everyone has obviously created their own fan sites, throw all those in. Then you add Carl Jr.'s. Stick that link in there too. So, before long you've got 300 websites of varying content and you need to add some organization to make it all relevant for your purposes. Yahoo also threw in the ability to tag your searches. The structured tagging feature offers a great tool for Yahoodlums to take advantage of in their search groups. Tags can be abused, as most folks familiar with search engines are aware. Yahoo recently purchased the Yahoo and certainly where they'll make their money is going to be the ability to niche market their advertising further. The ads will show up but Yahoo will be able to analyze the contents for certain groups and throw up ads in the mix. These ads can be designed and go towards specific types of customers and depending on the size of some of the groups involved, may even allow tailor made ads for specific groups. The downside, particularly with other problems Yahoo's had would be how to monitor some of these groups. Yahoo recently shut down their personal chat rooms on their instant messenger service because some of the names of the rooms suggested lewd behavior geared towards children. This group service could be misused in that manner and there's no reason to believe it won't be eventually, if not almost immediately. And as mentioned above, the tags could also be misused if the groups aren't careful in how the regulate the usage of these tags. Overall, Yahoo's new My Web 2.0 really adds something to the web experience. Its applications seem endless. Whether you're a model train collector or merely a physics class in college, the group build social search aspect really gives Yahoo something special. As search engine optimization continues to expand and grow and the companies try to find relevant features, this My Web is one that stands out. John Stith is a staff writer for murdok covering technology and business.