Yahoo's Y!Q Contextual Search Beta 129

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday February 03, 2005 @02:17PM from the punctuation-equals-edgy-we-swear dept.

skeptic1 writes "Just days after Microsoft unvieled its new MSN search, Yahoo released a new search tool called Y!Q that allows users to search within the context of the web pages they are currently viewing. It's not the typical textbox input search, and you don't even have to leave the current page you're on to use it. The current release is only the beta version."

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Yahoo's Y!Q Contextual Search Beta

Load All Comments

Search 129 Comments Log In/Create an Account

Comments Filter:

Is that useful? (Score:2, Insightful)

by BigDogCH ( 760290 ) writes:

Cant you already use google, specify the website or domain, and input your search request? Also, could anyone explain when this would be useful? Why not just go to the site, and search there?
- Re:Is that useful? (Score:2)
  
  by chris09876 ( 643289 ) writes:
  
  Yeah, they're not doing anything new. This sounds just like what you can do with Google. You can also use google to find 'related pages'. ...and it sounds like they might come out with an AdSense competitor too. ...but where's the originality there? It'll just be like what Google already has.
  - Re:Is that useful? (Score:1)
    
    by ergo98 ( 9391 ) writes:
    
    Well then doesn't that diminish the Google advantage?
    
    Countless people did search before Google did, but that doesn't reverse the fact that Google kicked their ass.
  - Re:Is that useful? (Score:1)
    
    by rekraft ( 174254 ) writes:
    
    ... try to feed a paragraph of text into Google and see what comes out. Then try the same with Y!Q.
- Re:Is that useful? (Score:2, Insightful)
  
  by FreshlyShornBalls ( 849004 ) writes:
  
  I think the point is that the functionality is what's new....the idea that the search "pops-up" on the same page withouth having to open a new window.
  
  Certainly not something that would make me switch to using Yahoo! instead of Google, but.....I can definitely see it being useful to a lot of users.
- Re:Is that useful? (Score:2, Informative)
  
  by FinalCut ( 555823 ) writes:
  
  I think it could be useful. First off I like the fact that you get the little popup div inline with what your reading so you can quickly determine if any of the search results will really help you with what your reading.
  
  Secondly, I can see alot of blogs using this - I already added it to mine. I discuss alot of technical topics that not everyone who visits might know about - but they might want to learn more about. I don't go into any great detail on most of the topics so the inline search might help my
- Re:Is that useful? (Score:2)
  
  by aussie_a ( 778472 ) writes:
  
  Cant you already use google, specify the website or domain, and input your search request?
  
  You don't understand what this is, this isn't google's "site:blahblah.com" feature, but Google's "related links" feature. This differs from Google's in that Yahoo is offering a plugin for websites.
  - Mod Parent up. (Score:1)
    
    by BigDogCH ( 760290 ) writes:
    
    Ahhhh, thanks. Aussie found what was confusing me. Now it makes sence. Mod aussie up please!
Firefox support (Score:4, Interesting)

by digitalgimpus ( 468277 ) writes: on Thursday February 03, 2005 @02:19PM (#11564407) Homepage

Yes, Yahoo does support firefox [yahoo.com].

But the idea isn't very original. The functionality belongs to Firefox and has been around for quite some time. The default search engine is Google on Firefox.

So yes, by default you get G!Q installed, Yahoo wants you to "upgrade" to Y!Q.

Share
twitter facebook
- Re:Firefox support (Score:2)
  
  by I confirm I'm not a ( 720413 ) writes:
  
  Y!Q is more like Google's site-specific search than Firefox's find-as-you-type: from the article, 'For instance, a reader looking at a news story about the State of the Union address might highlight the phrase "Social Security" to get a listing of pages that deal with that topic.'. You're absolutely correct that this isn't very original, however: it's just Yahoo playing catch-up with Google and - dammit! - it's MSN's turn to play catch-up!
  - Re:Firefox support (Score:5, Informative)
    
    by kaustik ( 574490 ) writes: on Thursday February 03, 2005 @02:52PM (#11564768)
    
    In firefox, with a default install, you can highlight a phrase, right click, and choose "Search the web for xxx"
    It searches Google.
    
    Parent Share
    twitter facebook
    - Re:Firefox support (Score:2, Funny)
      
      by Blue-Footed Boobie ( 799209 ) writes:
      
      When I search the web for "xxx" I don't get anything even close to what I wanted!!
      - Re:Firefox support (Score:1)
        
        by freakmn ( 712872 ) writes:
        
        Methinks you searched for the wrong type of Boobie, Boobie.
    - It searches whatever you put there (Score:2)
      
      by cbreaker ( 561297 ) writes:
      
      On the very page the parent linked, it has instructions on how to add Yahoo to this context menu.
  - Re:Firefox support (Score:1)
    
    by X ( 1235 ) writes:
    
    You're absolutely correct that this isn't very original, however: it's just Yahoo playing catch-up with Google
    
    Either you don't understand what Y!Q does, or you know something about Google that I don't. Can you explain to me how I can do the equivalent of Y!Q with Google?
    - Re:Firefox support (Score:2)
      
      by I confirm I'm not a ( 720413 ) writes:
      
      Either you don't understand what Y!Q does, or you know something about Google that I don't. Can you explain to me how I can do the equivalent of Y!Q with Google?
      
      Like this [google.co.uk]. Look for "Only return results from the site or domain", about 4-5 lines down.
      Granted, you need to copy-and-paste a bit to do what Y!Q does a little more easily, but the fundamental tech has been there for a while.
      - Re:Firefox support (Score:2)
        
        by X ( 1235 ) writes:
        
        Sigh... Try reading about what Y!Q does, or doing a search with Y!Q. You will discover it doesn't do anything like "Only return results from the site or domain".
  - Re:Firefox support (Score:1)
    
    by SandmanCL ( 444428 ) writes:
    
    You've misunderstood the point here I think. The firefox plugin is a way to easily utilize the new functionality of Y!Q. If I highlight an entire paragraph or two from the State of the Union, Y!Q will find out the essential words for me.
- Re:Firefox support (Score:5, Funny)
  
  by pHatidic ( 163975 ) writes: on Thursday February 03, 2005 @02:39PM (#11564622)
  
  The website says the demobar requires windows 95 and better. Does that means it runs on OS X and Linux?
  
  Parent Share
  twitter facebook
  - Re:Firefox support (Score:1)
    
    by DarkMantle ( 784415 ) writes:
    
    And not on windows ME (Mistake Edition)
  - Re:Firefox support (Score:1)
    
    by m50d ( 797211 ) writes:
    
    Surely in that case it will run fine on DOS?
- Re:Firefox support (Score:2)
  
  by joeljkp ( 254783 ) writes:
  
  It's nice to see big names specifically supporting Firefox. This new browser war may have something going for it after all...
- Re:Firefox support (Score:1)
  
  by adeydas ( 837049 ) writes:
  
  Firefox also has Yahoo Search embedded in it. Infact it provides the option for Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Dictionary.com and Creative Commons. I am talking about FF 1.0 and above on Windows.
  - Re:Firefox support (Score:2)
    
    by aussie_a ( 778472 ) writes:
    
    Firefox also has Yahoo Search embedded in it. Infact it provides the option for Google, Yahoo, Amazon, Dictionary.com and Creative Commons.
    
    And only Google is searched via "Search Web." I tried to change this but had no luck (and had to download an extension to add Yahoo to the context menu). With Firefox having a special google page as the default homepage, google as the only engine possible to use in "Search Web" and google as the default in the search bar in the menu, all of which was done BEFORE google
- Re:Firefox support (Score:1)
  
  by AmberBlackCat ( 829689 ) writes:
  
  launch.yahoo.com doesn't work with Firefox. Try watching a music video there.
- Re:Firefox support (Score:1)
  
  by jseale ( 691367 ) * writes:
  
  ...and for that matter you're better off getting the Googlebar for Firefox if you really wan't to get serious about using Google. It pretty much has all the features that the IE version of the Google Toolbar does. Just select Tools|Extensions from the menu bar and then click on Get More Extensions.
- Re:Extension? (Score:3, Informative)
  
  by Dhalka226 ( 559740 ) writes:
  
  Googlebar. You can highlight words, right click, Googlebar items, Search for selected text.
  I'm running the Googlebar extension version 0.9.0.30 if it makes a difference.
  I didn't read the article, so I'm hoping that's the sort of thing you were referring to.
  - Re:Extension? (Score:2)
    
    by lukewarmfusion ( 726141 ) writes:
    
    That's exactly my thought, and I did read the article. I won't complain, though... as more people learn of these features, the demand for 'em goes up and we get better stuff. :)
  - Re:Extension? (Score:3, Insightful)
    
    by orasio ( 188021 ) writes:
    
    In Firefox running on xfree or xorg, without extensions, you can highlight the word, middle-click in the google box, press Enter.
    
    Also, highlight the word, Ctrl-C,K,V, Enter does it, even more efective.
    
    Just kidding, but the real issue is that Firefox already has all the searching functionality I can use right now.
- Re:Extension? (Score:2)
  
  by ack154 ( 591432 ) * writes:
  
  nevermind... it's built in...
  
  "search web for..."
  
  son of a...
- Re:Extension? (Score:1, Informative)
  
  by manifest37 ( 632701 ) writes:
  
  If you RTFA you have seen they give many different ways to integrate into firefox. http://yq.search.yahoo.com/splash/firefox.html
- Re:Extension? (Score:2, Informative)
  
  by Disperz ( 818430 ) writes:
  
  Yes, it already exists.. It existed the moment you installed Firefox. Just highlight the word, right click, and go to "Search Web for 'highlighted content'" It's right above that, if installed, dictionary extension you were talking about.
- Re:Extension? (Score:1)
  
  by Mr. Falco ( 856087 ) writes:
  
  It is a built in feature no need to add an extension.
Firefox (Score:1)

by spac3manspiff ( 839454 ) writes:

and you don't even have to leave the current page you're on to use it.

You also dont have to leave the current page to use firefox's search 'engine'
- Re:Firefox (Score:1)
  
  by subsentio ( 735377 ) writes:
  
  You also dont have to leave the current page to use firefox's search 'engine'
  
  That's great for those who are using Firefox, but the reality is that ~90% of people aren't.
sounds like GuruNet (Score:1)

by jrm228 ( 677242 ) writes:

I've been using a tool called GuruNet [gurunet.com] (aka Atomica, and just recently Answers.com) for about 2 years. It's a subscription service, but worth every penny. You can alt-click on any word/phrase and it'll bring back categorized results from a dictionary, encyclopedia, Google, etc, and since they've linked in hundreds of validated sources you can have higher confidence that the information returned is accurate.
- Re:sounds like GuruNet (Score:2, Informative)
  
  by slyguy135 ( 844866 ) writes:
  
  Answers.com is free now.
Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2, Insightful)

by kuwan ( 443684 ) writes:

So will Yahoo! use this "service" to track what web pages you view and what you're interested in when you view them? A quick preview of their terms of service [yahoo.com] links to their privacy policy [yahoo.com] which states:

Yahoo! collects personal information when you register with Yahoo!, when you use Yahoo! products or services, when you visit Yahoo! pages or the pages of certain Yahoo! partners, and when you enter promotions or sweepstakes. Yahoo! may combine information about you that we have with information we obtain f
- Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2, Insightful)
  
  by spac3manspiff ( 839454 ) writes:
  
  Amazing how yahoo has really gone under the radar,
  remember the controversy that stired up when google came out with gmail?
- Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:5, Interesting)
  
  by ColdGrits ( 204506 ) writes: on Thursday February 03, 2005 @02:30PM (#11564522)
  
  So no different from the information Google already collects about you [google-watch.org] every time you use Google to do a search, then, it seems.
  
  Parent Share
  twitter facebook
  - Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:1)
    
    by RealityThreek ( 534082 ) writes:
    
    Google's is an ID that identifies you. As far as I know their claim is that they use it to keep track of your search preferences. They haven't really done anything that might motivate me to disbelieve them. Hey, maybe you look good in a tin hat.
    - Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2, Informative)
      
      by Pionar ( 620916 ) writes:
      
      Everything Google stores about you is in a cookie, so if you wanna be an ignorant dumbass and believe cookies can harm you, then just block google.com from setting cookies.
      - Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2)
        
        by aussie_a ( 778472 ) writes:
        
        And have fun using Gmail.
  - Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:3, Informative)
    
    by Dan East ( 318230 ) writes:
    
    Don't forget all the prolific Google AdSense content embedded directly into so many web pages. Google is in a better position to track a web surfer than any other entity, with the exception of spyware running on the actual client machine.
    
    Dan East
- Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2)
  
  by Lord_Dweomer ( 648696 ) writes:
  
  Bingo, and I wouldn't put it past them to serve you ads while they're at it. I mean, that IS how they make their money.
- Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:1)
  
  by enosys ( 705759 ) writes:
  
  I would totally expect that. It's part of how they make money. If they know more about the person viewing their web site they can offer more accurately targeted ads.
- Tinfoil hat time indeed (Score:2)
  
  by ImaLamer ( 260199 ) writes:
  
  Actually, they are letting you know that signing up for a Yahoo! account makes it easier to match the information they already keep on you.
  
  Oh, and that they buy information from third parties and in the future they will form a master database about you and your habits. But they don't say they will sell them and that they are basically doing the same thing most web sites do already.
  
  I look at my logs daily, I like to know about the people who visit.
- Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2)
  
  by aussie_a ( 778472 ) writes:
  
  Doesn't mention anything about selling my information. Only buying it.
Firefox (Score:2, Informative)

by hamlet2600 ( 739627 ) writes:

Highlight the text in a webpage, right click. You get "Search for " Sounds like the good folks at mozilla already have this feature. And the tags on the page described just seem like useless overhead.
- Re:Firefox (Score:1)
  
  by the_2nd_coming ( 444906 ) writes:
  
  same in safari except it is "Search Google"
- Re:Firefox (Score:2)
  
  by aussie_a ( 778472 ) writes:
  
  Highlight the text in a webpage, right click. You get "Search for " Sounds like the good folks at mozilla already have this feature.
  
  Damn. Had I only read this page I could have saved myself the hassle of downloading another extension *sigh* I might as well compare them.
  
  Let's see, State of the Union speech was used in the article, I'll just search for a news article on it. Aaah, here's one [advocate.com]. I think the MPA would be an interesting thing to search.
  
  I'll highlight that first page and use the "Search Web fo
You search in context (Score:2, Insightful)

by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * writes:

While they track your search in context to sell as marketing data. Lovely.
this guy searches site frequently for Tex Ritter, Cool Whip and Kazoos, I guess we could sell that to goatse.cx guy...
I can't wait until the next party and people..... (Score:2, Funny)

by ip_freely_2000 ( 577249 ) writes:

...try and verbalize "Y!Q"

or maybe I'll just skip that party.
- Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:1)
  
  by sarastro_us ( 745933 ) writes:
  
  Why-bang-que?
  - Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:3, Funny)
    
    by Reignking ( 832642 ) writes:
    
    Why bang Q? He's omnipotent, that's why.
    - Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:1)
      
      by jvj24601 ( 178471 ) writes:
      
      Why bang Q? He's omnipotent, that's why.
      
      Omnipotent? I thought he died [klast.net]?
      - Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:1)
        
        by Reignking ( 832642 ) writes:
        
        Wrong Q!!! Geek privileges denied. (ST:TNG reference)
- Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:4, Funny)
  
  by Tackhead ( 54550 ) writes: on Thursday February 03, 2005 @02:35PM (#11564586)
  
  > ...try and verbalize "Y!Q"
  >
  >or maybe I'll just skip that party.
  You think you've got trouble. I was at this party, and the guy was telling me about Y!Q.
  Fortunately, I was raised by a !Kung [uconn.edu] tribe, so I was able to understand it when this guy started talking about Y!Q.
  Unfortunately, DNS (which was not invented by the !Kung), I couldn't even guess what the domain name for the Y!Q search engine was supposed to be.
  So I thought I'd just google for it. Heh.
  I really shoulda skipped that party.
  
  Parent Share
  twitter facebook
- Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:2, Funny)
  
  by hanshotfirst ( 851936 ) writes:
  
  "Yick"
  "Why Bank?"
  
  I didn't read the article, and will continue to use Ctrl-F to search within the context of my current web page. No Yahoo required.
- Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:2)
  
  by aussie_a ( 778472 ) writes:
  
  try and verbalize "Y!Q"
  
  Why exclamation mark Q? It's a mouthful, but certainly nothing naughty....
No wonder they lost the search engine wars (Score:2, Offtopic)

by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) writes:

No wonder they lost the search engine wars. They check into odd things like thus, but even now their search results still do not have caching. That's the one thing that keeps me going back to Google again and again. Wish they would fix the deficiencies first.
- Re:No wonder they lost the search engine wars (Score:1)
  
  by Fledsbo ( 11673 ) writes:
  
  Doesn't it have caching? It does for me...
  
  http://216.109.117.135/search/cache?p=slashdot&sm= Yahoo!+Search&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&u=slashdot.org/&w= slashdot&d=B39B09F5C0&icp=1&.intl=us [216.109.117.135]
  - Well, mod me down! (Score:2)
    
    by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) writes:
    
    Well, mod me down. there it is! It just was not coming up in the yahoo searches I did. Someone moded me "interesting" without checking.
  - Re:No wonder they lost the search engine wars (Score:2)
    
    by rabbit994 ( 686936 ) writes:
    
    Dang that's an old cache of slashdot.
    
    Google is much more recent. Google Cache [64.233.167.104]
- Re:No wonder they lost the search engine wars (Score:1)
  
  by shrauner ( 196078 ) writes:
  
  Er, what? Yahoo search has had caching since day 1 of replacing Google as their search engine, perhaps you're talking about MSN, not Yahoo?
  
  You'll also notice, if you compare the two, that Yahoo cache handles frame sites, which Google does not.
Not a killer search app (Score:1)

by Inkieminstrel ( 812132 ) writes:

I can see situations where this would be useful, but realistically this seems like just another feature that 90% of users wouldn't know about and the other 10% would almost never use. It hardly seems like something that's going to tip the scales towards Yahoo!
Don't we already have this? (Score:2, Insightful)

by akeyes ( 720106 ) writes:

If I remember correctly, my browser already has this feature built in, I think I can get to it with a simple CTRL + F Now, where can I get some real news?
- Re:Don't we already have this? (Score:2)
  
  by ubernostrum ( 219442 ) writes:
  
  If I remember correctly, my browser already has this feature built in, I think I can get to it with a simple CTRL + F
  
  Ctrl+F in your browser scans the current page for keywords that are important to search engines, then runs them all through a search to try and spit back relevant and related information? Nifty.
- Re:Don't we already have this? (Score:1)
  
  by Reignking ( 832642 ) writes:
  
  Or, if using Firefox, use the "/"! Two ways to search!
Same as Google's 'Similar Pages'? (Score:1)

by tyroneking ( 258793 ) writes:

Isn't this the same as Same as Google's 'Similar Pages'?
- Re:Same as Google's 'Similar Pages'? (Score:2)
  
  by aussie_a ( 778472 ) writes:
  
  Isn't this the same as Same as Google's 'Similar Pages'?
  
  Let's fine out. I did a google for "George W Bush" and found www.georgewbush.com/ so I clicked related. here are the results [google.com]. Interesting. This came back with quite different results. [yahoo.com]
  
  How about search for "state of the union" speech and click on a "related links" to one of the results?
  
  Here [google.com] is google's page.
  
  . Certainly very different results. Which is more useful then the other? Depends why you're using it. Google gave me results concerning Bu [yahoo.com]
uhhh... in safari: (Score:1)

by the_2nd_coming ( 444906 ) writes:

CMD + f ...

is that hard?
- Re:uhhh... in safari: (Score:2)
  
  by Anita Coney ( 648748 ) writes:
  
  You Mac-heads think you're so special... with your modern near-perfect OS, great sense of style, and a wonderful ease of use. You suck!
- Re:uhhh... in safari: (Score:2)
  
  by DavidLeblond ( 267211 ) writes:
  
  In my copy of Safari, pressing CMD+F brings up the "Find words on this page" search box. If you would RTFA you'd find that Y!Q is not the same thing.
  
  Not that Y!Q is anything NEW... I do believe "find related pages" is the same thing... but CMD+F (or the Windows CTRL+F) is definately not the same thing.
Maybe I'm missing something... (Score:1)

by th3space ( 531154 ) writes:

By contextual search, do they mean being able to dynamically (sp? too lazy to open another damned window) search a page that is active in your window/tab without the need to visit a seperate site to use a search engine? Or do they mean that you can use the search engine to select a specific page and search from within their site?

If it is the former of the two, I've got that covered with a nifty Firefox extension that doesn't crowd my view with a search box window, but rather places a the search box down o
- Re:Maybe I'm missing something... (Score:1)
  
  by Bad Ad ( 729117 ) writes:
  
  i hope you mean another TAB.
- - Re:Maybe I'm missing something... (Score:1)
    
    by th3space ( 531154 ) writes:
    
    That, goodly AC, is exactly what I was looking for by way of an explanation. Thank you.
unified experience (Score:2)

by Sludge ( 1234 ) writes:

In the past, most web developers have taken comfort in the fact that most of the popular browsers were Pretty Damn Similar. You can give the user a unified experience no matter what they were using.

The advent of taskbar thises and thats and Firefox plugins means you can never really be sure what the user is seeing. What's worse, the web developer probably doesn't even have a way to tell. If we're lucky, these programs will identify themselves through HTTP headers.

Even though we're mostly there with HTM
- Re:unified experience (Score:2)
  
  by ubernostrum ( 219442 ) writes:
  
  The advent of taskbar thises and thats and Firefox plugins means you can never really be sure what the user is seeing.
  
  Why does this matter to you?
- Re:unified experience (Score:1)
  
  by spyowl ( 838397 ) writes:
  
  The advent of taskbar thises and thats and Firefox plugins means you can never really be sure what the user is seeing.
  Dear Bill, the idea behind the World Wide Web has always been to span between browser software, operating systems and hardware - whether it's a cell phone, PDA, laptop, desktop, touchscreen kiosk, TV, or a large overhead projector screen you are looking at. It has never been intended that all web surfers have the "unified experience" that is deemed by a single, or however many entities to b
Read the back story... (Score:5, Informative)

by jzawodn ( 29312 ) writes: on Thursday February 03, 2005 @02:59PM (#11564844) Homepage

It's a shame the poster didn't link to the info we posted on the Yahoo! Search blog [ysearchblog.com] last night. I think it answers some of the questions coming up here. Then again, this is Slashdot! :-)

Share
twitter facebook
Has anyone actually tried it? (Score:5, Informative)

by jwakko ( 68476 ) writes: on Thursday February 03, 2005 @03:11PM (#11564992)

I get the feeling that all the other posters pointing out that firefox already supports "highlight and search" don't get the point. I think the novelty here is that you can highlight huge sections of text, send it to Y!Q, and it will find other pages that are related, given that context.

After playing with it, I can see some how Y!Q is different - I went to a random article on Google news, highlighted an entire paragraph of text, and sent it to Y!Q. It returned a bunch of pages related to that original news article. When you do the same thing with Google search, not surprisingly, it only returns one page.

So, yes, Y!Q does something different. I don't know if it's entirely useful, but it's not entirely redundant, either.

Share
twitter facebook
wiki (Score:1)

by jlebrech ( 810586 ) writes:

Sounds like wiki to me.
Obligatory Bookmarklet (Score:5, Interesting)

by hacker ( 14635 ) writes: <hacker@gnu-designs.com> on Thursday February 03, 2005 @03:25PM (#11565168)

You can do this with a simple bookmarklet:

javascript:Qr=document.getSelection();if(!Qr){void (Qr=prompt('Keywords...',''))};if(Qr)location.href ='http://google.com/search?query='+'%22'+escape(Qr )+'%22&num=100'

Stick this on your Mozilla/Firefox toolbar (all on one line of course), highlight a word or words, and click it.
It also works if you click it without highlighting text. It will pop up a dialog where you can enter terms you want to search.
Simple!

Share
twitter facebook
del.icio.us integration? (Score:5, Interesting)

by TuringTest ( 533084 ) writes: on Thursday February 03, 2005 @03:49PM (#11565460) Journal

For all those folks comparing it to Firefox "Search web for selection", this is a very different beast. What Y!Q does is adding metadata to your query, so that only pages are listed which both

1) contain the terms you selected and
2) are related to the metadata of the original website.

I wonder what the results could be if this technology were merged with masive metadata with distributed generation [del.icio.us].

Share
twitter facebook
I want to add it.... (Score:2)

by Sophrosyne ( 630428 ) writes:

...but I'm afraid of upsetting google. I don't want my ranking to drop!
automagically generated results? (Score:1)

by viva_fourier ( 232973 ) writes:

1. Develop alternate interface to internet search engine.
2. Select outdated, annoying IT colloquialism to describe technical step #3.
3. ?
4. Profit!
The key is the search-side (Score:2)

by That's Unpossible! ( 722232 ) * writes:

Everyone is focusing on the "right-click on selected text and search for it" part of this deal, but that is not where the innovation is supposed to be. If you highlight more than 10 words in google, it will drop the rest. This Y!Q thing lets you enter a bunch of text, and it uses that text to get a contextual idea of what you're searching for and find results. It is not looking for pages with all those search terms in the pages.

How does it do all this?

Magic.
I really can't think of the last time I wanted.... (Score:1)

by Zphbeeblbrox ( 816582 ) writes:

This kind of functionality. I basically search when I don't have any sites with the information I'm looking for. If I already have a site with the information I'm looking for generally they have links to similar information on the site. I honestly can't think of a situation when I would want to use it. That's just me though. I'm sure there's a market out there for it, else Why would Yahoo be putting it out there? Right?
Y!Q.... (Score:1)

by thiophene ( 216836 ) writes:

I don't know, but I would bang Q because he is omnipotent.
Y!Q? (Score:2)

by blanks ( 108019 ) writes:

Why didn't they call it Ctlr!F
A Real Winner! (Score:2)

by Rambo ( 2730 ) writes:

After adding the "yq" bookmark/keyword search to Firefox I decided to give it a real challenge with the question: What is the best operating system? First entry: Linux Online [linux.org] :-)
Yes, but... (Score:1)

by loonicks ( 807801 ) writes:

How do you prounce it? Yah-Queue? Why-Queue? Yahoo! Query? Maybe Eee-Queue?
- Re:Yes, but... (Score:1)
  
  by lnishihira ( 214964 ) writes:
  
  the bang is silent :-)
  
  YQ
Use it, Then Comment. (Score:1)

by lnishihira ( 214964 ) writes:
I notice the following patterns on the negative comments here on slashdot.
- CMD+F does the same thing (which btw it doesn't)
- Google has Select/Query integration in Firefox by default and is therefore not original
- Same as Google's Similar Pages
I recommend that all of the people spouting these types of comments check out [yahoo.com] all the flavors and implementations of Y!Q. To summarize, the first three of these four have not really been talked about in this forum (or just barely scratched). You're missing a

There may be more comments in this discussion. Without JavaScript enabled, you might want to turn on Classic Discussion System in your preferences instead.

Is that useful? (Score:2, Insightful)

Re:Is that useful? (Score:2)

Re:Is that useful? (Score:1)

Re:Is that useful? (Score:1)

Re:Is that useful? (Score:2, Insightful)

Re:Is that useful? (Score:2, Informative)

Re:Is that useful? (Score:2)

Mod Parent up. (Score:1)

Firefox support (Score:4, Interesting)

Re:Firefox support (Score:2)

Re:Firefox support (Score:5, Informative)

Re:Firefox support (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Firefox support (Score:1)

It searches whatever you put there (Score:2)

Re:Firefox support (Score:1)

Re:Firefox support (Score:2)

Re:Firefox support (Score:2)

Re:Firefox support (Score:1)

Re:Firefox support (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Firefox support (Score:1)

Re:Firefox support (Score:1)

Re:Firefox support (Score:2)

Re:Firefox support (Score:1)

Re:Firefox support (Score:2)

Re:Firefox support (Score:1)

Re:Firefox support (Score:1)

Re:Extension? (Score:3, Informative)

Re:Extension? (Score:2)

Re:Extension? (Score:3, Insightful)

Re:Extension? (Score:2)

Re:Extension? (Score:1, Informative)

Re:Extension? (Score:2, Informative)

Re:Extension? (Score:1)

Firefox (Score:1)

Re:Firefox (Score:1)

sounds like GuruNet (Score:1)

Re:sounds like GuruNet (Score:2, Informative)

Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2, Insightful)

Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2, Insightful)

Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:5, Interesting)

Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:1)

Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2, Informative)

Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2)

Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:3, Informative)

Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2)

Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:1)

Tinfoil hat time indeed (Score:2)

Re:Tinfoil hat time... (Score:2)

Firefox (Score:2, Informative)

Re:Firefox (Score:1)

Re:Firefox (Score:2)

You search in context (Score:2, Insightful)

I can't wait until the next party and people..... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:1)

Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:3, Funny)

Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:1)

Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:1)

Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:4, Funny)

Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:I can't wait until the next party and people... (Score:2)

No wonder they lost the search engine wars (Score:2, Offtopic)

Re:No wonder they lost the search engine wars (Score:1)

Well, mod me down! (Score:2)

Re:No wonder they lost the search engine wars (Score:2)

Re:No wonder they lost the search engine wars (Score:1)

Not a killer search app (Score:1)

Don't we already have this? (Score:2, Insightful)

Re:Don't we already have this? (Score:2)

Re:Don't we already have this? (Score:1)

Same as Google's 'Similar Pages'? (Score:1)

Re:Same as Google's 'Similar Pages'? (Score:2)

uhhh... in safari: (Score:1)

Re:uhhh... in safari: (Score:2)

Re:uhhh... in safari: (Score:2)

Maybe I'm missing something... (Score:1)

Re:Maybe I'm missing something... (Score:1)

Re:Maybe I'm missing something... (Score:1)

unified experience (Score:2)

Re:unified experience (Score:2)

Re:unified experience (Score:1)