Friday, February 04, 2005

Yahoo Searches Web Page While You Read It

In its latest move to expand the reach of its search results, Yahoo released a new service that provides related search results within the context of a Web page.

Yahoo launched a beta test of the service called Y!Q in an attempt to automatically provide users with relevant search results without requiring them to initiate a query. In other words, Yahoo will search for more information based on the web page you are viewing. By analyzing the content on a Web page, the service is able to display related results within a dynamic box on the page itself.

While Yahoo is demonstrating the functionality on a test version of its Yahoo News site, it also is offering it widely to other Web sites. Webmasters can embed Y!Q's contextual search results into their pages by incorporating code for the DHTML (Dynamic HTML) module. Because users receive the results within the Web page, they remain on a given site rather than being redirected to the Yahoo Search site.

Users also can download an Internet Explorer toolbar or one of several plug-in options for Mozilla Firefox to receive Y!Q results while browsing any Web page.

All the Y!Q installation options are available through Yahoo Next, the company's site for prototyping new technology.

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