Yahoo!'s
Sure, Google could easily match or innovate beyond this technology, but Google also doesn't have the leading fantasy sports site in the world. For example, Yahoo! still demands more eyeballs than any sports site on the Internet including ESPN.com. So a Google search by sports fans would in many cases send users right back to Yahoo!'s site. Yahoo! could also find ways to attract users by linking Search Direct with many of its other services, such as its leading Yahoo! Finance site.
Yahoo! has continued to lose search traffic not only to Google, but also to Microsoft's
I'll be the first to admit that investors in Yahoo! should be a lot less worried with how Yahoo!'s own properties perform than how its Asian investments, particularly Alibaba are faring, but what if Yahoo! actually began to draw more eyeballs to its site through search?
Yahoo! executives admit the new tool needs some fine-tuning, but I am impressed that Yahoo! is creating some innovative tools that have the potential to increase traffic to its core sites. I don't think Google has to worry about Yahoo! stealing significant search market share anytime soon, but that is not the point. Search Direct is a tool that could help Yahoo! function as a more important portal for the Web and particularly its own valuable core sites.
- Add Yahoo! to My Watchlist.