A few months back I wrote a Fast Company column about Yahoo’s moves into the social software space. Sure is in contrast to Ballmer’s approach, no? Today we see that they are making more moves in search too. I noted that back then I noticed that Yahoo’s execs were far more upbeat than I’d ever seen them. It’s time to compare search engines again. Has anyone done a good comparison of the moves made?
Nice to see Yahoo coming on strong…
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Scobleizer 
Yahoo wins.
Yahoo is more nimble than MS. They are a services company, after all, already putting them ahead of MS in this arena. MS is too scared to really put any real effort and money into anything but their core bread and butter offerings. Spaces was an answer to Blogger, IE7 to Firefox’s gaining popularity and use, online tools (Live this and Live that). Now MS is looking into social network buy in.
MS will never be known as a social networking company, a Web *.0 company, or anything else. If you were to go on the street and ask a hundred people what one product or service says “Microsoft”, the majority would likely say “Office” or “Windows” or “IE”.
The boat left the harbor a long time ago, guys…
I have always liked Yahoo’s search since they ditched Google. It only gets better and better. Yahoo is revamping their failed Yahoo 360. Yahoo is actually starting to listen to its customers again.
Why? Because fresh leadership always helps. Unless a CEO keeps things fresh, the company will flounder.
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Yahoo wins.
Yahoo is more nimble than MS. They are a services company, after all, already putting them ahead of MS in this arena. MS is too scared to really put any real effort and money into anything but their core bread and butter offerings. Spaces was an answer to Blogger, IE7 to Firefox’s gaining popularity and use, online tools (Live this and Live that). Now MS is looking into social network buy in.
MS will never be known as a social networking company, a Web *.0 company, or anything else. If you were to go on the street and ask a hundred people what one product or service says “Microsoft”, the majority would likely say “Office” or “Windows” or “IE”.
The boat left the harbor a long time ago, guys…
I have always liked Yahoo’s search since they ditched Google. It only gets better and better. Yahoo is revamping their failed Yahoo 360. Yahoo is actually starting to listen to its customers again.
Why? Because fresh leadership always helps. Unless a CEO keeps things fresh, the company will flounder.
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I’m still not quite sold on Yahoo! due to the Flickr dustup and what some of us see/saw as being heavy-handed and on the wrong side of the equation when it came to content. I’ve still not gone back to MyYahoo or Flickr until someone like Thomas Hawk helps to turn the tide. (which as of last month wasn’t happening according to http://thomashawk.com/2007/09/flickr-censorship-part-119274.html )
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I’m still not quite sold on Yahoo! due to the Flickr dustup and what some of us see/saw as being heavy-handed and on the wrong side of the equation when it came to content. I’ve still not gone back to MyYahoo or Flickr until someone like Thomas Hawk helps to turn the tide. (which as of last month wasn’t happening according to http://thomashawk.com/2007/09/flickr-censorship-part-119274.html )
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Yahoo is the #1 site on our Web as it was last year and the year before that….
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Yahoo is the #1 site on our Web as it was last year and the year before that….
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If we’re doing a Yahoo-Google thing here (and if you’ll pardon the tangent), let me just state that while I’m a confirmed Googler when it comes to search, as far as public displays of corporate face are concerned, Yahoo wins hands-down!
Google’s just so bland in their communications (I’m thinking mainly blogs here). Yahoo, meanwhile, tend to come across as actual, ya’know, human beings. They laugh, they cry — they have life.
So no, I don’t use their search. But they’re certainly more fun to follow 🙂
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If we’re doing a Yahoo-Google thing here (and if you’ll pardon the tangent), let me just state that while I’m a confirmed Googler when it comes to search, as far as public displays of corporate face are concerned, Yahoo wins hands-down!
Google’s just so bland in their communications (I’m thinking mainly blogs here). Yahoo, meanwhile, tend to come across as actual, ya’know, human beings. They laugh, they cry — they have life.
So no, I don’t use their search. But they’re certainly more fun to follow 🙂
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I find Yahoo’s search to be better than Google’s. That was not the case a year or so ago, but Yahoo, has, in my opinion, pulled away. Google has mind share, they’re a verb even. It’s hard for people to think of anything else when the topic of search comes up.
I quit using Google in 2004 and have not looked back. I use Ask.com, Yahoo! search, and a few other, more obscure search engines to find little things that the big guys don’t do well with. Neither Yahoo or Google are good at contextual search.
Ask.com is becoming more impressive as time goes on.
Google is a has been. They are nothing more than an ad company who does search. No fun.
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I find Yahoo’s search to be better than Google’s. That was not the case a year or so ago, but Yahoo, has, in my opinion, pulled away. Google has mind share, they’re a verb even. It’s hard for people to think of anything else when the topic of search comes up.
I quit using Google in 2004 and have not looked back. I use Ask.com, Yahoo! search, and a few other, more obscure search engines to find little things that the big guys don’t do well with. Neither Yahoo or Google are good at contextual search.
Ask.com is becoming more impressive as time goes on.
Google is a has been. They are nothing more than an ad company who does search. No fun.
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Good to see the positive move. Interesting that about the same time you blogged about the happy campers at Yahoo, (President) Susan Decker snapped up a bunch of stock. I noticed the coincidence:
http://www.appdev.info/?q=node/110
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Good to see the positive move. Interesting that about the same time you blogged about the happy campers at Yahoo, (President) Susan Decker snapped up a bunch of stock. I noticed the coincidence:
http://www.appdev.info/?q=node/110
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D. Sometimes I wish I followed my own observations and bought stock, but I don’t own any in Yahoo.
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D. Sometimes I wish I followed my own observations and bought stock, but I don’t own any in Yahoo.
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There are normally little details that put up a barrier to me using a service. In this case, the first one is my inability to add Yahoo to my Firefox search box. Sure, it’s already in there as default, but I’m lumbered with the the UK specific one which I don’t want.
But mostly I can’t see a reason to change my habits. If both Yahoo! and Google offer the same service, there is little reason for me to change. I’ll use what I’m used to.
If I were Yahoo! I’d be looking at software like Quicksilver and Enso and investigate how I can integrate search into my computer world away from the traditional browser window.
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There are normally little details that put up a barrier to me using a service. In this case, the first one is my inability to add Yahoo to my Firefox search box. Sure, it’s already in there as default, but I’m lumbered with the the UK specific one which I don’t want.
But mostly I can’t see a reason to change my habits. If both Yahoo! and Google offer the same service, there is little reason for me to change. I’ll use what I’m used to.
If I were Yahoo! I’d be looking at software like Quicksilver and Enso and investigate how I can integrate search into my computer world away from the traditional browser window.
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Agreed with both 4 and 5.
Yahoo does better at communication than Google does. Google doesn’t even have a way to contact them and they are clearly too superior for their users when they do post some one-way communication.
Yahoo’s search has also really been improving, while Google’s seems to be getting more and more bogged down by spam or simply returns wikipedia and ebay results for every other search. They both have their benefits but I prefer Yahoo’s for relevancy.
My next peeve with Google is that it is so clearly developed by a bunch of phd’s, it’s not even funny. I mean, why can’t my one google account give me access to all these different features they have WITHOUT me having to sign in 3 times? I was writing up an article on how to sign up for Analytics today (for complete novices) which meant having to click a button ‘sign up here’ at three different stages, all to eventually lead to the analytics bit of code. There’s an incredible amount of usability improvements that could be made over there!
Last but not least, Yahoo’s been around a long time. They’ve got multiple income sources to stand on. Google is too reliant on one source of income and thus vulnerable the moment that gets attacked. I own part of a small company in Norway that is very non web 2.0, but they’re shifting advertising dollars from Google to Facebook because the targetting is just a million times better (ie. they only want to show an ad to 18-30 year olds to start with, and perhaps different campaigns targetted at different cities on top of that. G can’t get anywhere near that kind of targetting and they know it – it’s got to have them VERY worried!!).
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Agreed with both 4 and 5.
Yahoo does better at communication than Google does. Google doesn’t even have a way to contact them and they are clearly too superior for their users when they do post some one-way communication.
Yahoo’s search has also really been improving, while Google’s seems to be getting more and more bogged down by spam or simply returns wikipedia and ebay results for every other search. They both have their benefits but I prefer Yahoo’s for relevancy.
My next peeve with Google is that it is so clearly developed by a bunch of phd’s, it’s not even funny. I mean, why can’t my one google account give me access to all these different features they have WITHOUT me having to sign in 3 times? I was writing up an article on how to sign up for Analytics today (for complete novices) which meant having to click a button ‘sign up here’ at three different stages, all to eventually lead to the analytics bit of code. There’s an incredible amount of usability improvements that could be made over there!
Last but not least, Yahoo’s been around a long time. They’ve got multiple income sources to stand on. Google is too reliant on one source of income and thus vulnerable the moment that gets attacked. I own part of a small company in Norway that is very non web 2.0, but they’re shifting advertising dollars from Google to Facebook because the targetting is just a million times better (ie. they only want to show an ad to 18-30 year olds to start with, and perhaps different campaigns targetted at different cities on top of that. G can’t get anywhere near that kind of targetting and they know it – it’s got to have them VERY worried!!).
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ps. apologies for the long post; got carried away there 🙂
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ps. apologies for the long post; got carried away there 🙂
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(Disclosure: I work at Google.)
Hey Sam, I’m guessing the extra password on Google Analytics is to keep someone from walking up to your computer and looking at site stats. For stuff like that or Web History, it doesn’t bother me that Google really wants to make sure it’s me.
There are several good ways to get feedback to Google. The webmaster group is one that I know several Googlers read, for example:
http://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help
Several Google blogs also have comments turned on, e.g. the official Google webmaster blog, the Google librarian blog, etc.
Sam, I think we might also have chatted on other posts as well, yes? http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/014828.html is one where we were talking about .cn issues. I recently gave an update on that on my blog, e.g.
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/still-chugging/#comment-113783
if you’re interested..
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(Disclosure: I work at Google.)
Hey Sam, I’m guessing the extra password on Google Analytics is to keep someone from walking up to your computer and looking at site stats. For stuff like that or Web History, it doesn’t bother me that Google really wants to make sure it’s me.
There are several good ways to get feedback to Google. The webmaster group is one that I know several Googlers read, for example:
http://groups.google.com/group/Google_Webmaster_Help
Several Google blogs also have comments turned on, e.g. the official Google webmaster blog, the Google librarian blog, etc.
Sam, I think we might also have chatted on other posts as well, yes? http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/014828.html is one where we were talking about .cn issues. I recently gave an update on that on my blog, e.g.
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/still-chugging/#comment-113783
if you’re interested..
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I love Yahoo…but Yahoo has miles to go in terms of accuracy of results for a common user like myself…I searched for “sprint store near glendale arizona” — looking for s Sprint store address…check out the results below from Google & Yahoo and determine for yourself which search engine I will be using next time.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sprint+store+near+glendale+arizona&btnG=Google+Search
Yahoo–
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu6pCRQJHFv0A31hXNyoA?p=sprint+store+near+glendale+arizona&y=Search&fr=aaplw&rd=pref
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I love Yahoo…but Yahoo has miles to go in terms of accuracy of results for a common user like myself…I searched for “sprint store near glendale arizona” — looking for s Sprint store address…check out the results below from Google & Yahoo and determine for yourself which search engine I will be using next time.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=sprint+store+near+glendale+arizona&btnG=Google+Search
Yahoo–
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0geu6pCRQJHFv0A31hXNyoA?p=sprint+store+near+glendale+arizona&y=Search&fr=aaplw&rd=pref
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Wow thats a cool robots helicopter. I’ve never seen before
for search engine uually i use yahoo but cause too much picture and my connection is so slow i use google now, its faster and good result on search
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Wow thats a cool robots helicopter. I’ve never seen before
for search engine uually i use yahoo but cause too much picture and my connection is so slow i use google now, its faster and good result on search
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When doing a search i use “Google” 1st then move on to “Ask” and if need be to “Yahoo”. i refuse to be pigon-holed by doing just 1 thing over and over without a good and thorough search. BTW i have yet, through the years, found any programs by Yahoo that i use on a regular basis.
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When doing a search i use “Google” 1st then move on to “Ask” and if need be to “Yahoo”. i refuse to be pigon-holed by doing just 1 thing over and over without a good and thorough search. BTW i have yet, through the years, found any programs by Yahoo that i use on a regular basis.
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What about the next frontier – Mobile Search? It appears that Yahoo has a head start on Google in this arena… but with a google phone bound to make its way to market in the next year who knows where this next battle will take us – maybe back to web?
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What about the next frontier – Mobile Search? It appears that Yahoo has a head start on Google in this arena… but with a google phone bound to make its way to market in the next year who knows where this next battle will take us – maybe back to web?
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I for one would love to see a little more creativity in the search space. I was pleased to see Ask’s changes a few months ago, but a little disappointed they haven’t caught the public eye a little more. I’m curious whether any changes to web search at this point can have any impact on behavior. It’s funny a few days ago I posted on our blog about Yahoo! getting more click through on search results than Google.
http://blog.compete.com/http://blog.compete.com/2007/09/26/search-queries-results-yahoo-google-msn-live/
There’s a lot of complicating factors to my very simply cut of the data but it’s still interesting to see things shifting around a bit.
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I for one would love to see a little more creativity in the search space. I was pleased to see Ask’s changes a few months ago, but a little disappointed they haven’t caught the public eye a little more. I’m curious whether any changes to web search at this point can have any impact on behavior. It’s funny a few days ago I posted on our blog about Yahoo! getting more click through on search results than Google.
http://blog.compete.com/http://blog.compete.com/2007/09/26/search-queries-results-yahoo-google-msn-live/
There’s a lot of complicating factors to my very simply cut of the data but it’s still interesting to see things shifting around a bit.
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Robert, have you taken a look at Yahoo!’s search page for the iPhone? Just change your setting to default to Yahoo!. I haven’t done enough of a comparison to determine whether the results are better or worse than Google’s but the presentation is much slicker and an indication of Yahoo!’s forward thinking.
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Robert, have you taken a look at Yahoo!’s search page for the iPhone? Just change your setting to default to Yahoo!. I haven’t done enough of a comparison to determine whether the results are better or worse than Google’s but the presentation is much slicker and an indication of Yahoo!’s forward thinking.
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There was a study done not long ago which put Yahoo well in front of Google on many kinds of searches..
This hasn’t necessarily been borne out by my own observations (i’ve code against both their APIs and more), but I’m not willing to give Google a blind pass on Search forever
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There was a study done not long ago which put Yahoo well in front of Google on many kinds of searches..
This hasn’t necessarily been borne out by my own observations (i’ve code against both their APIs and more), but I’m not willing to give Google a blind pass on Search forever
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Actually it is funny that you wrote about this. Hockey season just started and so I become a bit interested in sports. Well I thought if I just typed in Calgary Flames in the search box I would get the latest scores but no in Google and no in the new Microsoft Live search but in Yahoo the first result was the score.
Try ny yankees and the same thing happens.
Why not have live scores and schedules as part of the algo for ll of the search engines, in fact one person could do it themselves I bet at any or all of the search engines so that we can get better fact type results instead of just results based on what the search angines think is the best page
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Actually it is funny that you wrote about this. Hockey season just started and so I become a bit interested in sports. Well I thought if I just typed in Calgary Flames in the search box I would get the latest scores but no in Google and no in the new Microsoft Live search but in Yahoo the first result was the score.
Try ny yankees and the same thing happens.
Why not have live scores and schedules as part of the algo for ll of the search engines, in fact one person could do it themselves I bet at any or all of the search engines so that we can get better fact type results instead of just results based on what the search angines think is the best page
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