Yahoo Search Engine

As Internet searching tools go, Yahoo search engine is one of the largest providers of Internet exploration that is available today. Yahoo Search was a simple web directory in the beginning. It did not become a searchable Internet tool until near the end of the 1990s. The engine itself was aided by other entities until 2004 when Yahoo web search began to stand on its own independently. Since then it has grown to one of the largest Internet search tools that are available on the Internet. Another related feature is called Yahoo Answers. It is a forum for users to ask questions on a variety of subjects and post answers as well. The Bible talks about the importance of searching the scriptures for vital information about God and eternal life. "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." (John 5:39)

There are a number of categories for anyone who is using the Yahoo search engine. Users can simply click a link to specify a category and narrow down the type of hits that any searches might yield. If a user opts for the image category, the query will return only images such as illustrations, logos, icons, or photographs. The video category will return only appropriate video file links. Problem solving computer programs, or algorithms are used to pull up the links to Internet sites that best meet the search's criteria. The directory category is maintained by staff rather than a computer program. This category supplies lists of web sites that relate to a particular topic. In the local category, responses are limited to businesses or sites that are local to the area. Some of the sites in this category may be sponsored links. News is a category that returns information about current events. Shopping on the Internet has become a very popular pursuit and the shopping category of Yahoo web search can help a consumer find products and services. This category may also yield some sponsored links.

Simple searches in a Yahoo web search are conducted when a user types a word or phrase into the box and hits the enter key. This will trigger a list of Internet sites that could answer the user's question or meet their need. Advanced searches help the researcher to be more specific in their requests. A typical web search can generate hundreds of thousands of hits. The number of hits is generally listed in the upper right area of the page. At the bottom of the page may be a list of possible related searches. Some businesses pay for featured placement on the page and are identified as such. Results can come in a number of forms including PDF, HTML, XML, RSS, URL, or cached. A PDF is a portable document format and needs to be opened by a PDF viewer. Whenever a portable document format file is returned as a result, a Hypertext markup language file, or HTML formatted file of that page is offered as well. HTML basically means text that includes hyperlinks and is the format generally used for web pages. Cached files are copies of old web pages that search engines sometimes save. These files are often returned as results in many searches.

The most successful results from a Yahoo search engine can depend on many factors. When selecting the key words that will be used while searching, careful consideration should be used. Generic words will produce general results, so specificity is important. For example, a researcher will be better off using a phrase like "first edition novels by Mark Twain" rather than "used books." Some words can have several applications. If a researcher uses the word "painting" when he is looking for information on the Mona Lisa, his search could return results that range from semi-gloss house paint to spray on tans. Any words that are used in a Yahoo web search can have significant meaning. Helpful additions that could aide a user in narrowing down thousands of possible results are the plus or minus sign. A searcher who is interested in a Tiffany lamp would want to put a plus sign between the words Tiffany and lamp. This will avoid having to sort through multiple pages about jewelry or ordinary household lighting. The minus sign can help generate more specific results as well. An auto aficionado who is not a fan of the Ford Mustang might be best served by choosing the words "car-Mustang." This will bring in hits on web sites that do not refer to that particular sports car. This type of searching is called Boolean.

Words such as "or" can be used to similar effect. If more than one topic is of interest, the word "or" in all capitals will reflect that. When searching for a phrase in which the word order is important, such as information on a literary quotation, placing quotation marks around the entire phrase will locate that information quickly. When a researcher is utilizing a Yahoo search engine and they are interested in locating web sites that have a specific word, such as "cat", in the URL address, simply entering "inurl:cat" will produce such sites. Other shortcuts could include entering key words such as "weather" used in conjunction with the name of the city in need of a forecast. The same is true for words like "map" and "news." A simple zip code will pull up yellow page listings for that area. The word "define" will yield dictionary web sites.

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