Yahoo Goes Deep with Subscription-Based Search
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Written By Reprise Media | June 16, 2005 | Share This
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Yahoo will be dipping a toe into what some call the ‘Deep’ or ‘Hidden’ Web by allowing users to search that content which lies behind password-protected, subscription-based sites.
An announcement by Product Manager John Riccardi on the Yahoo! Search Blog late last night contained news of the beta of the engine’s new subscription-based search.
What’s cool: Users can now get at information once obscured. The content providers are pretty impressive - Consumer Reports, Forrester Research, etc. No ad clutter (for now) - Says Yahoo’s Tim Mayer: “We have no plans at this time to add search-related advertising. We see this really, rather than a way to make money, as a way to get people to be loyal… and to provide extra value over our competition.”
What’s kind of annoying: Results are limited to the last 30 or 60 days for some sites. Most researchers require results that go back further, particularly if they’re expected to pay. Though there’s an option to exclude it, the New England Journal of Medicine is generating a lot of bulk - a search for Michael Jackson (or anything involving a name) yields a huge number of results from this site.
Topics: Yahoo! |
So would this pay service unlock the actual content that requires paid subscription, or only the ability to search those contents and receive search results? The News.com article was vague on that point.