Earlier today, we were at Yahoo’s “End of the 10 Blue Links” event. Basically, it was their state of search gathering, similar to the “Searchology” event that Google had last week. But there was a key difference, as anyone who was following along with the live notes likely saw: Google’s was interesting. Yahoo’s was not.
That’s not necessarily to say that Yahoo isn’t working on anything interesting in search — it is. BOSS, its open search strategy and Search Monkey, its open search application platform, are interesting, but they’re also old. In fact, part of today was used to highlight Search Monkey’s one year anniversary. One year may not seem like a long time, but in a constantly innovating web, especially in the search space, it is. And there’s a much larger problem with those two offerings: They’re not particularly interesting to end users on a large scale.
I bring that up because Yahoo is still losing search share. As it slips closer to 20 percent in the U.S., Google keeps gaining share, up to 64.2% in April, according to comScore. I don’t want to say that there is no way for Yahoo to reverse that trend, but with the things it’s currently doing, I see no way it can. Even if (and probably “when”) it does merge its search business with Microsoft’s search business, the two combined will only have about 28% of the search market in the U.S. — well below half of Google’s share.
So what the hell is Yahoo doing? Well I can tell you what they’re not doing. They’re not focusing on launching sexy-looking new ways to interpret search data on the front end, like Google is. 
At today’s event, Yahoo did show off some new ways of displaying search results that are being bucket-tested. But when question after question kept asking when those would launch, Yahoo kept basically saying “when they’re ready.” And, to be honest, they were really nothing to write home about anyway.
Yahoo is using its BOSS and Search Monkey products to gather up new data for better results, but none of it is likely as interesting as Google say, trying to index the world’s books.
Here’s what else Yahoo is not doing: Focusing on real-time search. I asked a question about their thoughts on that sexy trend right now, and the various execs at the event all downplayed its importance — calling it a “buzzword.” On some levels they’re right, many real-time search queries like certain results on Twitter search are basically meaningless. But there is an underlying power to real-time search that is undeniable, and that users want. That’s why we’re seeing so many companies working on it right now.
Google recognizes the trend, and is starting to talk about it very seriously. And Twitter is going the other way to add link crawling to its results, to make its real-time search offering much more robust. Prabhakar Raghavan, the head of Yahoo! Labs and Yahoo! Search Strategy did say that Yahoo would like to “blend the best of both” meaning mix fresh content with relevant content, but offered no firm plans as to what the company was working on to do that, beyond what it’s already doing — which isn’t enough.
Here’s what Yahoo is doing with its search product based on what they were saying at today’s event: They’re moving from returning links to returning objects based on user intent. But come on, even after we parse the buzzwords (interesting, when you consider that Yahoo called real-time search a buzzword), there’s still not much there. This is the same thing that basically all the search engines have been saying for years now. The web is about more than just links — shocking.
While a new search engine like Wolfram Alpha is actually taking a different approach to search, Yahoo is just trying to display things in a different way to users. They’re saying they’re going to display “objects” rather than links, but that just means they’ll show pictures, movie show times and other slightly more useful cousins of web links in results. Google does that too. So does Microsoft. So does Ask. So does AOL.
You can call it whatever you want: Objects, rich results, pretty picture things — this alone is not a way Yahoo is going to reverse its search share trend. At some point Google will stop taking search share from its competitors (at the very least when it reaches 100%), but Google is synonymous with web search right now, and that is not going to change anytime soon. Especially when Google’s innovations in the space trump Yahoo’s.
Yahoo search may have a window with its mobile offerings — and it played that up today by saying that while about 1 billion people in the world use PCs, 4 billion people use cellphones. But that’s almost more contingent on worldwide mobile carrier deals that any kind of real innovation. Can Yahoo wheel and deal and own that space? We’ll see, but again Google is doing some kick-ass things in mobile search with its voice search technology.
Yahoo can downplay something like real-time search, but at least that’s something different than being the “other Google.” Sadly, with its search product, that’s what Yahoo has become.
Wolfman Alpha is nice, but looks like it was designed by someone living in the 1990s
LOL!
search being first step, however far it goes, it should not get away from novice users. yhoo fail.
Innovation in search IS happening, but mostly by either Yahoo alums or people leveraging BOSS like
Hakia
Yauba
Duck Duck Goose
What happened to GLUE, that was introduced in India on test basis. Is it live to the entire world yet?
I have only respect for Yahoo…they are the pioneers…has always been like that…
Yahoo search is really good….it’s just that Google got lucky with their adsense/adwords thingy…
…but as they say, “every that has a beginning has an end”…”RIP Yahoo!”
http://www.livbit.com
I’ll be honest, if yahoo wants to succeed on search, it will need to focus entirely on search like google. Sure google has some other good products, but they are not displayed on the homepage, such as g-mail which is losing to y-mail. I think Yahoo should try to create a separate search portal that focuses solely on search and has a catchy name. Not something unspellable like cuil. Pay for a simple, easy to spell and remember domain name and you are halfway there. Focus on families and school kids. Google is a search brand. Yahoo is a portal brand, and not a search brand. Nobody thinks of google as a news or e-mail provider, they know that their number one priority is delivery quality search results. When people think of yahoo, they think of good homepage, good e-mail, they don’t think of search.
Boss api is nothing innovation whatsoever. Now web api’s are found everywhere.
…so you are less than 9 years old???? Impressive
Did you guys see Twibeo launched today. http://www.twibeo.com
James Stark – please stop spamming this crap on every post!!
No, but I saw a tool spam TC
Pay-Per-Chat is currently the real innovation in the Mobile search space.
http://www.prwe...rweb2181914.htm
Bloggers/twitters want it SEXY… or maybe even ‘hot’.
That was the only meaningful word in the article.
Yeah.
What kind of comparison is that ? Company facts if to be presented should have the same parameters – you cannot put something like “founded” against “launch date” As a matter of fact, Yahoo Search is half the age of google Search. I think they have done a good job considering that.
Internet Search Wars: the race a build a better answer machine. may the best answerer win.
AnswerLocator.com – results rule
dickheadlocator.com — go away
I wouldn’t say too loud as you do. Yahoo is a shadow of Google in some sense. Still we go to siteexplorer to findout the perfect results of backlinks. Can Google tells it? No! Yahoo API is great – but sorry – heavy and – dull. I have an impression, that there are 30 yahooengineers which try to make me impression of 3000’s! And then – Yahoo makes Yahootwitter. Are you going to use it? Me – not!
I really miss Yahoo in their glory. Nothing against Google.
Another Yahoo day session of feature speak and not enough focus on what consumers actually need. Sounds like the same big Internet co. story. Newsflash: Consumers don’t have any burning need in Search.
I’d suggest Yahoo spend the thousands of dollars it takes to have an all-day session, evet, whatever you call it on understanding what tweens are doing and what their needs may be now and in 5 years. There are smart people at Yahoo, and I bet they could figure it out.
I forgot to add, Yahoo’s decline can be directly attributed to turning off comments on new stories. Just look at the statistics and weap
simply yahoo need to cut deals with the mobile operators for LONG term agreements for search AND for data that pass’s through their systems…
glimpsing
at a users cell location and if they query for pizza is VERY useful
they need to expand the yahoo maps to run on more phones a LOT more phones it needs to be built in and a simple download
adding stuff like fire eagle by default to phones (the operators can brand it etc but its fire eagle running things…) will make sure that they have useful stuff
developing a better ad network by focusing on players such as wordpress and asking to be the default “app” in a whole bunch of for example BSD forums and Applications building interesting app’s around that search capability for Open Systems the same way google is with apple…
basically going out and building cool stuff for a specific community be it BSD people or vets who look after dogs
everyone wants to be special
regards
John Jones
Unfortunately, Yahoo! has never really been serious about search. They play lots of lip service to it but they never back it up by allocating the resources Y! Search requires to be competitive with Google. Google is a search company at its core and all of their other products revolve around search. They have also stockpiled a massive amount of talent, which makes it tough for its competitors to compete in the areas of innovation and technology.
Yahoo’s only chance to make a comeback is to leapfrog Google by leveraging the social web. My sense is that the company is again too late to the game with their upcoming social offerings after a few failures (e.g. 360) and a couple of huge missed opportunities such as Yahoo! Answers and Delicious (and to a certain extent Flickr).
As an ex-Yahoo! I’m always cheering for the company to succeed. But as a consumer as well as an advertising professional, I’m continually seeing fewer reasons to have Yahoo! products as part of my daily life, unfortunately.
Dear Sir,
I am certainly agree with you. Yahoo! takes steps too late ….. after Google and of course some Yahoos product are shadows of Google’s.
Now reading this article it looks good to me that at last Yahoo is trying to change its search scenario.
Anyways, Best of Luck to YAHOO!
Best Regards
Great article MG.
Had a good read.
“They’re saying they’re going to display “objects” rather than links, but that just means they’ll show pictures, movie show times and other slightly more useful cousins of web links in results. Google does that too. So does Microsoft. So does Ask. So does AOL.”
thats not what i means. Youre basing your whole article on a wrong inference. Search any music artist on yahoo and you’ll see the object, then search the same on google and you will see the difference.
That’s a nice feature, but will it make people use Yahoo over Google. Not. A. Chance.
doesn’t techcrunch use Yahoo BOSS in its search platform? How has that been?
Yep. Been pretty good. But do end users care about that? No.
He can not search for an artist on Yahoo, he pukes immediately.
Oh! Boy! These hype machine tiny screws… or should we say screw-ups?
It’s funny that if you don’t buy in whole hog to the faddish ideas about search trends, you’re an also-ran. This despite no evidence that these most recent search fads will establish consumer legs or will generate sufficient profits.
Yahoo’s iPhone app got voice searching in the last update. The problem with Yahoo (in my opinion) is that every little thing just takes FOREVER.
good counterpoint, Mr. Siegler
“But there is a underlying power to real-time search that is undeniable, and that users want.”
I call BS. Please characterize the “underlying power” of real-time search.
I think its just bloggers with not much else to do that have time to sit around and watch the results of real-time searches.
Does “real-time search” mean asking your ~2000 followers to help you answer a question? Or, does it mean searching Twitter (+w/e else) to search trends as they’re happening?
Maybe bloggers do, but does Larry Page also too?
Today:
“I have always thought we needed to index the web every second to allow real time search. At first, my team laughed and did not believe me. With Twitter, now they know they have to do it. Not everybody needs sub-second indexing but people are getting pretty excited about realtime.”
Indexing THE WEB, can you read? or you only can write, blogger?
The statement was about real-time search. The response involved real-time search. I read it. I wrote it.
Kid, you are not reading AGAIN. It’s about FREQUENT indexing OF THE WEB, and “they (the team) have to do it”, because Twitter showed that people WANT it (indexing the web frequently, forget about RT, you, blogger without technical education, you don’t know what you are talking about, like AT ALL, go study).
There are no things like ’simultaneously’ and ‘real-time’ in the client-server systems, you stupid blogger, you.
I’m a fan of your, use, of commas.
Although I dont recall when was the last time I used yahoo search I still am a fan of Yahoo.
Its sad but I think – its a sinking ship. They started cooking too many food at the same time – do they have time ? I dont think so. I use yahoo messenger and mail and I wont give up for any other product.
Siegler: Are you implying that Y! can’t continue to straddle the B2B2C divide and must choose to be a vendor to one (consumer or business), or the other? I’d like to see the Y! brand broken out to be a consumer service business that handles all of my communications with open source software and ZERO lock-in (except the good service).
Not a bad idea perhaps, but won’t happen.
sweet… another bash Yahoo story. Nothing new in the twitter world????
Twitter is a collective Paris Hilton. BStters BSting to BStters about BS for the sake of the BS of it.
Does the BS there stand for Britney Spears?
No, of course (you can not read again, I’m telling you you can’t at all). BS stands for the noun and a verb that explain the substance of your profession, blogger.
On one hand, you think a single word has two parts. On the other, you think the second part is a verb.
… and it’s taking place in… ‘real-time’ (who said that, btw? there’s nothing RT there, it’s a client-server system it CAN NOT be RT, there are delays).
Its a pro-google post.. u hate yahoo..
You hate our freedom?
We just hate asshats, mr. Siegler, and you are both a douchebag and an asshat. What a long article pulled completely out of your ass. The depth of your ass is more impressive (search: ghey porn) than the depth of your insight.
Naa.
You insult OUR intelligence. 
While i normally like your posts MG, this one was honestly lame – hope commenters also have freedom of press! :p
Reversing search market share trend has almost nothing to do with the search engine’s features and it has 100% to do with distribution, which you did not even mention. Google is winning in search not because they have a far superior product than Yahoo’s (for vast majority of terms Google and Yahoo will return the same results) but because they were completely ruthless when it came to owning distribution channels (namely browsers and desktops) where as Yahoo’s only major channel is its own yahoo.com network.
Of course there is freedom of comments — at least if they’re intelligent, which yours is. I did mention distribution with regards to mobile, but true, didn’t with desktop. That said, I disagree with your assertion that it’s about that — by that rationale, Microsoft should be dominating search since it owns the most widely used browser, by far, after all.
At the end of the day, Google won because it had a better product. Have Yahoo and MSFT caught up since then? Sure, at least somewhat — but Google continues to push forward with things that people who actually do searches find cool and interesting. I’m just not seeing that from the major rivals.
plus Yahoo thought you comment about real time search was stupid and you got the hump and wrote a negative post about the event.
not everyone shares your love of real-time search or should i say twitter
The definitive factor is Google has an army of third party publishers. They push Google’s brand, ads and search bar to every corner of the web. Third party publishers are the life blood, not a few social networks, or whatever new fad. The interwebs are made up of the multitude of web publishers. Google completely dominates this lifeblood, while Yahoo has never even made an attempt beyond beta to engage it.
This one distinction has made all the difference. And even under new management, Yahoo still doesn’t get it.
Marc, he didn’t mention it because he has no idea about what you’ve just said (and you said it right).
Yahoo is a dead company with no real reason to exist anymore.
Hey Michael or MG, can you provide some way to downvote the drive-by commenters who just linkdrop their annoying sites (like the locator person)?
Probably not a bad idea.
Matt you are one of the most annoying people to watch or listen too.
http://www.yout...h?v=cdNG7ptsCMQ
Matt you have to know that your working for the biggest “spam results” producer on the planet. why dont you put a “down vote button” on all that garbarge your company spits out. why’s your company offer a hundred pages of results when 99% wont pass page 3 ? are you trying to look bigger than you really are? you dont know what a drive by commenter is. my signature is on all my content.
two fools that never started their own company. working for someone else. when either of you have a startup to compete let TC and me know. thats what this site is all about.
DummyLocator.com – just found two more
someone tell craphoo it’s over in search and to beg msft to come back
I am getting a little annoyed by Google’s dominance, I would like to see some good competition.
Some good competition?
Well you could try
Wolfram Alpha
Yauba
Twitter Search
and if you are outside of US
Baidu
Naver
twitter search works for india also
Wolfram Alpha
Yauba
Twitter Search
All crap.
twitter search? like what? “i just ate LOL”, perhaps?
It’s not like Google is having a good time as well. It’s highly innovative StreetView is currently working its way across some rough terrains.
http://walydopt...-critisicm.html
Yahoo! Pull your thumb out and get this done ASAP!
Get Search for YPN up and running yesterday! The only way Yahoo can turn the search tide is to start getting their search bar on third party websites.
You don’t have to be better than Google at this point. You just have to be good enough. Which you are. You NEED third party publishers if you want any hope of making a strong comeback. Right now your competitive advantage can only be gained through slimmer margins. Pay your affiliates well and they will lift you up.
Get YPN out there. Get YPN for SEARCH out there. Stop coming up with all these left handed ideas. You need to focus on fundamentals. Get your product out there. Start shipping NOW. Improvements along the way will enhance your reputation as you close the gap.
Just effing get it done already. I’ve been on about this for 4 years already.
I ffounds techcrunch guys hate yahoo a lot, anything about yahoo – they makes big deal in bad ways and even small thing about google make big deal…. c’mon man let yahoo grow – that’s the ONLY competitor for evil google in search – not to mention I like google search but I am 100% towards breaking monopoly and you guys are supporting it. that’s BAD
I am a fan of Yahoo, i remember when they owned! But even when I’m using the yahoo dev tools, i search them up on Google.. :\
为人性僻耽佳句, 语不惊人死不休。This old chinese saying summarizes how MG writes most his posts.
I used to like Techcrunch. But more and more it looks like a bunch of opinionated soap-salesmen writing about their deep-found misunderstanding of technology.
Can you explain your confusion? What does Yahoo have to do with technology?
TC is the oficial blog of Google, TC stinks out
Search being the core product of google, it stays ahead (far ahead) in the competition. But i believe yahoo glue style of displaying search will definitely fetch the extra slice of bread for them.
Google is leader in search, whereas Yahoo is profiling into tools and toolboxes for developing applications on the Internet.
A different market.
What has this got to do with Twitter?
The problem with yahoo is they dont have faith since a giant google is involved here.
if yahoo can’t compete why don’t they share their search code for other people to play with it …. GNU GPL search engine
, that is what the world needs
you mean yahoo search was still alive?
I always find the comments much more worthwhile than the post itself .. its like a virtual brainstorming session .. but wonder why only TC has such vocal readers !!
I find the repeated use of ‘ahem’ rather annoying. Reminds me of a boss who would always clear his throat to emphasize a statement. Unpleasant.
Hopefully we’ll look back in a few years at Yahoo’s current decline in search share as a small blip on the radar screen, and they’ll be back head to head with G. However, it’s not looking pretty right now…..
I too want a down vote on the TechCrunch and Google sites.
Yahoo seems to be a long way in within the vicious circle. Losing users+Losing money+Losing motivation=Lack of innovation.