In an apparent move designed to meet the challenge posed by Google's new product Instant, that gives results as one types a word, Bangalore techies are working overtime to make Yahoo search smarter.
"The focus is to get more local and social," said Shouvick Mukherjee, chief executive officer (CEO) of Yahoo India research and development (R&D). "There are two kinds of people who search - those who browse to see what's up and those who know what they are looking for," Mukherjee said. "We capture their intent and give an all-round picture in the first page of search."
Web turns mind reader
Simple search
Rationale behind predictive searches is that people don't have the bandwidth for multiple searches. Following the launch of Google Instant gives results as one types a word Yahoo too aims for a smarter search engine.
Getting personal
Search engine Bing shows its American users sites and products that their Facebook pals 'like', making search more personal.
Breaking it down
Yahoo techies are trying to make sense of huge amounts of online content. They write codes to classify them enabling the engine to extract info.
Ad mad
The techies are also devising ways to match advertisements to search keywords, estimating probability of clicks on each ad |
The result is what Yahoo techies call a 'bucket of options'. The rationale is that "people just don't have the bandwidth for multiple searches." Type 'Sachin' in a Yahoo page and you get the latest news about the cricketer, his commercial site, Facebook, Twitter, scores and images. A part of it comes from Yahoo's own content.
A search for a popular restaurant in Bangalore would yield a 'bucket' of reviews and social media entries. Soon it will include neighbourhood advertisements as well.
Predictive search is what Google Instant is all about, while Microsoft is aggressively entering the social networking space. Launched in September, Instant is based on the principle that people type slowly but read quickly. So type 'Manm' you get text and images of the Prime Minister.
Unveiled last year, search engine Bing is growing fast. In October it began showing its American users sites and products that their Facebook pals 'like', making search more personal. Now, working in a typical glass and chrome building in a tech park close to the old HAL airport, Yahoo techies are finding ways to beat competition. It is trying to make sense of unprecedented amounts of online content - blogs, photos, videos, and social and professional interactions - and make it relevant and cut-to-size.
They write codes to cluster Web pages and classify and rank them. This work enables the engine to automatically extract relevant information along with images and video.
The techies are also devising ways to match advertisements to search keywords, estimating probability of clicks on each ad. One of the technologies involved is the Vertex system aims to extract structured records from more randomly laid out pages. Professional editors then annotate sample pages and make laws for the search engine.
Based on these developments, a lot of user interface designing is done to make the searcher's first interaction easy, clear and clutter-free. Yahoo has tied up with Microsoft for help in more efficient web crawling using their search muscle. "Still in many aspects we still compete," Mukherjee said.
The competition is hotting up. Recently market research group comScore noted that while Google led the US search market in November with 66.2 per cent share, Yahoo followed with 16.4 per cent and Microsoft with 11.8 per cent. An earlier report by Nielson showed Bing overtaking Yahoo.
Stiff competition means Bangalore techies have busy times ahead.
Courtesy: Mail Today
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