Just as the commotion died down over Microsoft's Live Search update, Yahoo comes forward with some thunder of its own, unveiling its new Search Assist feature, an interface also focused more on user intent (the new buzz word in search, apparently), with a healthy dose of user-generated content thrown in for good measure.
Live Search and Google's 
Matching User Intent
This is just a small example of getting at the intent of the searcher, a goal Yahoo says spawns from research showing consumers are suffering from "Web search fatigue"; ninety-nine percent of online adults searching and only 15 percent finding what they want on the first go round.
"We know that consumers want a complete answer, not a bunch of links, and the changes we've made are focused on getting people to the best answer -- whether it be a Web link, photo, video or music clip -- in one search," said Vish Makhijani, general manager and senior vice president of Yahoo! Search.
In case you're worried that the dropdown suggestions will match the annoyance level of Microsoft Word's paper clip (it's worse if you use the Japanese version, by the way, where it's a squeaking dolphin instead), the box "only shows up when you need it or ask for it."
And with Search Assist available, says Yahoo, users saw a 61 percent increase in task completion.
User-Generated Assistance
Also like Live Search, images and videos are interwoven into the results, the videos playable from the results page.
The integration of user-generated content in the results is an impressive and useful update that includes restaurant and hotel shortcuts, pulling in user reviews from Yahoo Network's Local Search.
Or, if you had to be in Louisville, Kentucky this weekend, a query for "
Suggest a Correction
Found an error or have a suggestion? Let us know and we'll review it.
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!