Yahoo SearchPad: A Better Approach to Web Research?
Yahoo is beginning testing today on a new feature in its search engine that seems much like Google Notebook, but offers a very different approach to organizing your Web-based research. Dubbed Yahoo SearchPad, at its core, the feature is much like online notebooks before it – a collection of links and clipped research from around the Web.
The differentiator, which will make or break Yahoo SearchPad, is that it relies largely on attention data to automatically collect research for you. Say for example you’re researching a new car. If you’re using Yahoo, SearchPad will automatically appear if it notices that you’re clicking a lot of related links or spending lots of time on pages about cars.
Once Yahoo notices you’re doing research, a “Take Notes” option will appear, right in the search pages. Follow the option and you’ll enter SearchPad, where, as opposed to a blank canvas, you’ll already see all of the research you’ve conducted on the given topic that Yahoo has identified. You don’t need an account – you can keep SearchPad open, add to it, and when you’re done, either print it or save it to your Yahoo account.
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