Back in 2000 when I was a humble college student, Yahoo! Search was my all-time-favourite search engine, followed by Altavista. That was until I discovered google and I haven't looked back since.

But today, after reading a post on Techcrunch titled Yahoo Search Just Got Smarter, it prompted me to check out Yahoo! Search again. The post, by the way, is well-written and it highlights the new and improved features which are recently added to Yahoo! Search.

So now I hear you asking, "what are the major differences to the previous Yahoo! Search?". The major differences are the new version is more intelligent in that it now has a built-in search assistant (similar to Google suggest but with Explore Concepts section where you can examine related keywords/concepts) and a guided search which leads you to any other relevant sections within Yahoo! network. To quote Erick Schonfeld (the author of Yahoo Search Just Got Smarter):

Do a search for a restaurant or hotel, and results from Yahoo Local come out on top, with links to maps, ratings, and reviews. Type in “bourne ultimatum,” and the top result is a widget from Yahoo Movies with a trailer you can click on, audience reviews, and show times nearest you. Search for “Vancouver,” and the top result is a widget from Yahoo Travel, with links to a guide, hotels, restaurants, flights, and maps. Type in “digital camera,” and you get shortcut results from Yahoo Shopping.

I think Yahoo! has done a great job with the new features, and while I will still be using google as my primary search engine, I might be using Yahoo! Search a little more often now that they have these cool additions.

[tags]yahoo, yahoo search, search engine, google [/tags]