Try searching for something common as web hosting. The blast of "targetted" ads is so very refreshing. Not quite like that other stupid search engine that actually shows me my results prominently.

Posted by: MadMan on April 8, 2003 03:51 AM

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Strange how, once you get past the paid-for adverts, the results are exactly the same as Google's (or perhaps it's not so strange). What incentive is there in this for anyone to switch? Surely Yahoo ought to be providing a service that's better, not exactly the same. And it could provide improvements. For example, Madman's search for web hosting returns a link to Microsoft Front Page as the first result. Completely irrelevant to most people, I'd have thought.

Posted by: Alan on April 8, 2003 04:10 AM

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Apparently, they are using Google's search for that.

Oh Alan, don't try searching for information architecture. (I think I heard this on 37 Signals site.)

Posted by: MadMan on April 8, 2003 04:17 AM

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I am staying put.

Posted by: daniel szuc on April 8, 2003 04:51 AM

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Damn, I could've sworn there was a whole page full of "premium" articles when you searched for information architecture. Should've taken a screenshot. :(

Posted by: MadMan on April 8, 2003 05:33 AM

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You have to be several times better than the competition to "train guns" and get a substantial change in behavior. To extend this metaphor we have to aim where the competition will be, then fire first

Yahoo is setting itself up as a Google wannabe, not a Google competitor. All this can do is -- as is clear in this thread -- get people draw comparisons to the leader. Yahoo can not out-Google Google. It might succeed evolving Yahoo into a better Yahoo.

Posted by: on April 8, 2003 08:17 AM

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I put some of my thoughts about the new Yahoo! search on my site for those interested.

Posted by: Joshua Kaufman on April 8, 2003 11:52 AM

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And here I was hoping that a search for web hosting would show my website creation and hosting website, so that I could actually make some money. :>

I read on http://www.selfpromotion.com/ and http://www.selfpromotion.com/yahootips.t that it's important to be listed on Yahoo:

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Yahoo is the most important place to have your site listed on the Internet, yet most Yahoo listings are awful. Once you understand how to craft a proper submission to Yahoo, you'll not only greatly increase your chances of getting in, but you'll get many more hits than you would otherwise. If you are already in Yahoo, don't despair; my initial listing in Yahoo was awful, but I managed to double the number of clickthroughs I get from them by successfully requesting a change to my listing.
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Yahoo is without a doubt the single most important index on the Internet (though Open Directory is rapidly gaining on them!), and it is an absolute must that you get listed here.
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That said, I can't afford to pay $299 a year to be listed there. I much rather stay with Google, whom hasn't tried in-page video ads and whom hasn't shafted users as badly (I was one of the first Geocities users) and I remember all the violations of its own privacy policy Yahoo has done. They got caught selling the personal information of children. They reset everyone's preferences to receive 'special offers' and 'phone solicitations' and the like. Yahoo Mail isn't much better. I still get over 50 spam a day.

Posted by: Morris Cox on April 8, 2003 12:40 PM

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> I won't switch. Will you?

No way! I'm staying put. AllTheWeb.com is a million times better than Yahoo.

Posted by: on April 8, 2003 04:04 PM

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No, I won't switch, especially if all I am going to get is an imperfect clone of Google with an eye-wateringly crammed interface and annoying ads at the top of my search results.

Posted by: Lydia on April 8, 2003 04:41 PM

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Perhaps the idea was to generate publicity to get people to take a second look at Yahoo. Drawing comparisons to Google was a big mistake because, __clearly__, Google fans will simply laugh at Yahoo's implementation.

Posted by: on April 9, 2003 03:32 AM

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Geesh, this is a tough crowd. A company makes a number of UI improvements, and all we can talk about is that they haven't raised the bar above the market leader's head.

I wonder how many of you other usability practitioners work for market leaders? How many have the absolute best products in their industry? How many of your UIs are the absolute image of state-of-the-art usability and functionality?

I say "Good job" to the folks at Yahoo! We can all learn from the progress you've made. Keep it coming. I hope there's a day soon when Google can learn a lot from you or other competitors. While I'm not likely to switch from Google, I do recognize a few new twists you've added, and appreciate those attempts at innovation. Time, traffic logs, ad revenue, and hopefully a lot of usability tests will tell if you've succeeded. Seems that right now everyone's a critic, or so "googley-eyed(tm)" that they can't give you proper credit.

Posted by: Lyle - Usability Guru on April 9, 2003 01:03 PM

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I'll second Lyle's comment. Well spoken like a "Usability Guru" should be. ;)

Posted by: Joshua Kaufman on April 9, 2003 03:08 PM

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I'm not sure anyone here is looking at it merely from a UI perspective, Lyle. The question was "would you switch" from Google, not "what do you think of the Yahoo! search improvements." The answer involves brand loyalty, preference for simplicity over quick access to several information sources, and so on.

Posted by: Lydia on April 9, 2003 03:52 PM

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