February 18, 2004, 11:19 AM — Yahoo Inc. unveiled a new search engine technology Wednesday, and began phasing out services from Google Inc., in a move likely to increase competition between the Internet giants.
The new algorithmic technology now being used on Yahoo Search will soon be rolled out among Yahoo's worldwide properties, with plans to introduce new customization and personalization features, the Sunnyvale, California, company said. As it incorporates the technology, Yahoo is casting aside search services from Google.
The launch comes one day after Google announced that its index of Internet items has surpassed six billion. Although Yahoo had been using Google's search technology for some time, over the last year the company has made it clear that it plans to become a leading player in the search market. It has since invested in its own technology and plunked down US$235 million for search technology provider Inktomi Corp. and $1.63 billion for Overture Services Inc.
In a commentary posted on the Search Engine Watch Web site, the site's associate editor Chris Sherman wrote that it is surprising that Yahoo developed its own technology rather than using Inktomi's. The move would set in motion a new race for the search champion, he wrote.
Yahoo said Wednesday that its new search technology is the beginning of a rapid succession of new search offerings. The company plans to integrate a new search service with My Yahoo that adds links to site syndication content in search results, for example. The service will allow users to add sites to their My Yahoo homepage and see updated headlines and links from those sites, Yahoo said.
Additionally, the company is using its antispam technology to help filter out redundant or irrelevant URLs (uniform resource locators) and links, Yahoo said.
The new search technology is currently being used in Yahoo News Search and Yahoo Product Search and will soon be introduced on Yahoo Travel, Local, Personals and HotJobs, the company said. Additionally, it will power search for Overture's algorithmic partners.
A spokeswoman for Yahoo in the U.K. said that the new search technology would be rolled out in Europe over the next two weeks. However, for the time being, Yahoo's U.S. and European properties are still using Google to perform image searches, she said.
