Yahoo! Assist Is The Librarian Of Search

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

(Source) Like with Live Search and Google’s Universal Search, Yahoo’s more robust approach to query refinement signals a new era in SEO/SEM; more options in the search results means more opportunities to be discovered.

I’m not sure this equates to more options in a true sense. Perhaps in a nominal sense. The Yahoo! Assist is a good feature, don’t get me wrong. But take a look at it and tell me if you think this is more options:

This screen shot shows the drop down menu that, yes, does provide a searcher with more options in the sense that it serves as a sort of multiple choice test for the question, “Is this what you were looking for?” But it doesn’t provide you as much with a list of videos, photos, and other multimedia options in the way that Google Universal and Ask 3D do. Those would, in my mind, be more options. Yahoo! Assist is like a librarian helping you with your research. Ask 3D is more like a convenience store displaying its merchandise effectively. Google Universal is trying, but not quite there yet.

NOTE: Click the screen shot and when you land on Yahoo! SERP, click on the downward pointing arrow just below the search box on the left. The dark blue Assist box will drop down.