Yahoo’s! co-founder and former CEO Jerry Yang has stepped down from the company’s board. He announced his exit on Tuesday as he also gave up his posts on the boards of Yahoo Japan Corp. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

His departure news was made public in a press release. He wrote a letter and we quote, “My time at Yahoo!, from its founding to the present, has encompassed some of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life. However, the time has come for me to pursue other interests outside of Yahoo! As I leave the company I co-founded nearly 17 years ago, I am enthusiastic about the appointment of Scott Thompson as Chief Executive Officer and his ability, along with the entire Yahoo! leadership team, to guide Yahoo! into an exciting and successful future.”

Industry experts believe that Yang left the company he co-founded in 1995, as a result of the shareholders pressure. It is known that Yang was criticized by shareholders since he had thwarted Microsoft's unsolicited takeover bid in 2008, while he was serving as the CEO of Yahoo. Yahoo's stock soared 4% on the news in after-hours trading Tuesday.

Yang’s departure comes two weeks Scott Thompson took over as Yahoo’s new CEO. Prior to this Thompson was the former president of PayPal. Thompson is now heading Yahoo’s efforts to compete with Google and Facebook as well as get more revenues for the company. Thompson was hired three months after the ouster Carol Bartz who served as CEO for 30 months.

Jerry Yang, the former Chief Yahoo!, served on the company’s board since March 1995. At present he owns a 3.6 percent stake in the company. He served as Yahoo’s! CEO from 2007 to 2009, where he had to step down following the Yahoo-Microsoft fiasco.

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Jerry Yang Exits Yahoo!

Yahoo has put out its formal press announcement announcing Scott Thompson as the new CEO. Yahoo has been looking for a new CEO since the ouster of Carol Bartz. This is what Yahoo has to say about appointing Thompson:

“Scott brings to Yahoo! a proven record of building on a solid foundation of existing assets and resources to reignite innovation and drive growth, precisely the formula we need at Yahoo! His deep understanding of online businesses combined with his team building and operational capabilities will restore the energy, focus, and momentum necessary to grow the core business and deliver increased value for our shareholders. The search committee and the entire Board concluded that he is the right leader to return the core business to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation.”

AllThingsD was the first one to report that PayPal president Scott Thompson was going to be designated as CEO of Yahoo. A few hours after the report, Yahoo has made the formal announcement.

As per the eBay bio, Thompson took the reins of PayPal’s president ship in early 2008. Prior to this he was serving as its CTO in charge of information technology, product development and architecture. Before joining eBay, he worked at Inovant and served as CIO of Barclays Global Investors and at Coopers and Lybrand on information technology.

Yahoo fired CEO Carol Bartz in September 2011, and since then had been looking for a new CEO to head the company.

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Yahoo! Has A New CEO- It’s PayPal President Scott Thompson!

Looks like the Yahho! Image search just got better. Yahoo has announced the addition of two new features to the Yahoo Image Search. They are- social sharing and continuous scrolling.

Social Sharing:
It is all about sharing an image you found on Yahoo Image search on social platforms like Facebook and Twitter (not Google +). You will see the links for sharing them on these platforms, when you will click on an image result and are taken to the larger image. When your friends will click the link, they will arrive at the Yahoo Image Search page, and not to the site where the image is displayed/hosted.

Continuous Image Scrolling:
You can see endless photos, as you can now continuously scroll through the images in the Yahoo Image Search results. Yahoo is quoted, “Type a query for a current event and users will see photos pertaining to breaking news, along with the ability to continuously scroll through the results- all unique to Yahoo! Image Search.”
Try exploring these features, and do share your experience.

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Social Sharing And Continuous Scrolling Added To Yahoo! Image Search!

iPhone has been the most searched term of 2011, (ipad was the most searched gadget in 2010), followed by Casey Anthony. Kim Kardashian led the celebrity brigade, appearing at number 3, followed by Katy Perry and Jennifer Lopez, who came number 4 and 5 respectively.

The Year in Review was announced based on 700 million visitors, which were unique, activity on Yahoo! Network.

Top Searches on Yahoo! in 2011:

• iPhone
• Casey Anthony
• Kim Kardashian
• Katy Perry
• Jennifer Lopez
• Lindsay Lohan
• American Idol
• Jennifer Aniston
• Japan earthquake
• Osama bin Laden

Surprisingly, Britney Spears couldn't make it to top 10 this year.

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iPhone Most Searched: Yahoo! Top Searches 2011!

The festive season has kicked off with Thanksgiving, and search engine industry has launched their Thanksgiving logos and themes. Google went ahead and launched its doodle a few days ago. The rest of the engines- Yahoo!, Bing and Ask have also gone live with their logos.

A very happy Thanksgiving to all our readers from PageTraffic!

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Search Engines Bring Out Thanksgiving Logos And Themes!

21st November saw the end of the road for the Yahoo Site Explorer, as it was rolled in to Bing Webmaster Tools. This means that you will lose the invaluable information you got about the competition, and will only get to know the information of the sites you own . While search professionals are hoping that Bing would integrate competitor data in its tool, just like Yahoo Site Explorer, there is no hints of the same from Bing.

The tool was launched on 29th September 2005, and for 6 years became the only source of competitor data that was available for free. But in July this year, Yahoo announced that they will pull the plug on this tool as soon as the organic results get transitioned to Bing in all the markets. During the transition, Yahoo kept advising webmasters to use Bing Webmaster Tools.

Well, now the transition to Bing is complete and with it comes the final day of the Yahoo Site Explorer. This means that the SEOs will now not be able to find who links to competitor sites. With the Site Explorer, one could find who linked to the competitor site and link domain found links to anywhwere on a specified web site. But since the Site Explorer has been put to rest, the source of information is also lost.

The major concern that the search professionals and online marketers face is what free alternatives are available now that the YSE is out of the picture. Till now, we could not find a free tool that is parallel to the information that the Site Explorer provided, but other tools are there, that can be considered. These are suitable for search professional who are on a tight budget:

Open Site Explorer- SEOMoz's tool will provide you with more of less the same information. The tool tells you the linking domains for up to 5 competitor websites, and the domain authority too, along with several other pieces of information like inbound links and anchor text for free. And for more details, you need to have a Pro membership that starts at $99 a month.

Majestic SEO- This is a paid tool, that gives you a summary of the referring domains and external backlinks. For the detailed information, you have to sign up for a package.

Ahrefs Site Explorer- This is again a paid tool, that provides some free information too. For instance you can know your competition's External Backlinks, their number and type (text, image, nofollow, redirect, deleted and frame). For further details like Anchor texts, referring domains you have to sign up.

Blekko- This is a highly useful alternative, as it lets you track down linked pages in two ways. However, both ways will lead you to the same results. The first way is to use slashtags- “/links” and “/domainlinks” along with the competitor's URL. Like to find the links to the home page, we have keyed-  http://blekko.com/ws/pagetrafficbuzz.com%2Fdomainlinks finds all inbound links to the site.

The search results come with a little inverted triangle, that expands to show many options, and you can select ‘links’ from the pop-up box.

By clicking the SEO option below the search results, you can view inbound links to the whole of the competitor web site. A click on the inbound links number leads you to the list of domains containing the links to the competition and their number.

To Conclude:

While not at par with the Yahoo Site Explorer, these tools may provide you with valuable insights. We can only hope that Bing adds this functionality to its webmaster tools. Any how, do you know of any more free tools? Do share your knowledge via comments below.

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The Sun Sets On Yahoo Site Explorer- What's Next For Backlinks Research?

It's official now. Yahoo search is powered by Bing, whether it is a desktop search or a mobile one. Yahoo has given the lead to Microsoft Bing. The only exception is of Korea where this algorithmic transition has not yet happened.

As Yahoo declared that the transition process is complete, and also explained why Korea remains outside the loop, “Yahoo! has completed the algorithmic transition to Bing in all global markets (except Korea), across desktop and mobile, for all Yahoo! and syndication traffic. This has been a huge effort spanning 20-plus months involving many people across Yahoo! and Microsoft. Only Korea, which involves a three-way integration between Yahoo, Microsoft and Daum, remains, and is expected to complete by the end of the year. ”

This process of transferring the search algorithms started in August 2010, when Yahoo Search stopped providing their own algorithmic search results in the USA and Canada. The process of transfer has been slow and they have moved one country at a time, whilst Yahoo handing over their search technology and search engine to Microsoft.

The transfer process has not been easy, as Yahoo explains the process, “We had to confirm Bing could handle Yahoo’s capacity across multiple global datacenters, including new ones that were brought online to serve the needs of the Search Alliance. The fact that all the cutovers went remarkably smoothly and were essentially non-events from an operational perspective is a testament to the thorough job both teams did. ”

Now, the transition is nearly complete, with the exception of Korea. And that too will be done by the end of 2011. The transition wave reached Australia, Brazil and Mexico, and then Yahoo UK was powered by Bing. The Bing Yahoo Search alliance reached Asia markets in September, and now it is nearly done.

This transition is for organic search only. Paid search transition is still mid way. Do you think this search alliance will impact Google in any way? Do leave your comment.

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Now Bing Powers Yahoo Organic Search All Over The World Barring Korea!

Yahoo! and Bing have expanded combined search engine operation service for the Asian users. The markets that will come under the purview of this service include Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan and Vietnam. However, a notable exception will be that of Korea.

In fact Yahoo! and Bing recently completed this algorithmic transition for the European markets of Greece, Poland, Romania, Turkey and Switzerland (in German, French and Italian languages, i.e. the three main languages of that country).

In August the duo announced a similar step for the following countries/regions- Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Russia, the Netherlands, Sweden and MENA (Middle East and North African countries, in Arabic language). And that announcement had again come close on the heels of other similar announcements, wherein Yahoo! and Bing had informed about the launch of this service in various other countries, such as New Zealand, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, USA, Mexico, France, Germany, India, Italy, Spain and UK.

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Yahoo! Bing Transitions Expand To Asia Markets!

In a fresh attempt to better the Yahoo! Search experience by presenting the most relevant content in an organized manner, Yahoo has introduced newer designs for search results pages. According to Yahoo,“ We have been working to unify the search experiences across web, multimedia, and vertical search results pages with a design that is clean and intuitive.” 

And now they have implemented the the latest design changes across the search results pages. The changes are visible on web-image-videos-news-blogs, finance and sports search results pages. The main features of the pages are:

1. Clean Look- the look is clean and simple. So that you can easily find what you are looking for and not be distracted or confused.
2. Automatic Tabs- The pages now have easily accessible tabs that appear right below the Search box to provide the searcher with the relevant and specialized content they are searching for. 
3. Filters- There are filters on the left side of the results will help you sort results by time and related searches.

How The New Search Works:

These tabs are work on the basis of your query. So that you have an enhanced vertical search experience.  See the search results for Page Traffic Buzz for example:

The searches performed on the news search page will also include filters on the left for news sources, and the related videos to the search will be shown on the right side of the results.

The image search page has also got a facelift. This is how it will be different now:

• Facebook results will rule the roost. As the images from fan pages and public profiles will be displayed prominently.
• You will get the latest of pictures, that will be taken from even more Yahoo! content
• You will benefit from the better recommendations at the end of galleries

Below is an example of the Image search results page for the “Search Engine Optimization” query. This brings you the most relevant pictures on top and also gives an indication as to how long ago each was published. On the left hand side, you can see the Facebook option displayed prominently.

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New Designs For Yahoo’s Search Results Pages!

Yahoo!  has reiterated that Webmasters from all over the world must take to using Bing Webmaster Tools as the tools are supporting the Yahoo! Site Explorer community. By using these tools, they can make an effort to keep getting relevant organic search traffic from Bing and Yahoo! 

This July , following their efforts to bring more usable data forward for webmasssters, they included the traffic results for your top performing pages in Bing.  And since the mid of August this year, the traffic data from Yahoo is being integrated by Bing Webmaster Tools in its reports.  In continuation with the Search Alliance efforts, it was decided that this integration is quite sensible at it shows relevant data from both engines within a webmaster account. 

Yahoo further said, “We have been making great progress in transitioning organic search results to the Microsoft search platform in various markets, as part of the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance. The Site Explorer website will continue to be available until organic results are completely transitioned to the Microsoft Search platform in all markets (expected to be completed by the end of the year). Webmasters may continue to use the Site Explorer website and all its services until then.”

Yahoo also informed that as of September 15th 2011, the SiteExplorer YDN API’s are no longer available. This was announced before. In the present scenario, what the webmasters need to do is start using Bing Webmaster Tools for Yahoo results.

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Yahoo! Advises Webmasters To Use Bing Webmaster Tools!

Back in August 2010, Yahoo! announced the transition of its US search results property to Microsoft Bing. This was followed by Yahoo! sending out updates announcing the migration of its Yahoo's European organic search results to Bing's search last month. And now this transition is slowly making its way to India market. The entire transition process is expected to be completed by mid-September.

As of now it is not really clear as to how Yahoo’s algorithm transition is going to impact the organic search results for Chinese speaking cities such as Hong Kong and Taiwan where Yahoo domination still continues.

Meanwhile, Yahoo's Net Index A Study for Southeast Asia sheds light upon consumer insights for the advertisers that are targeting these emerging markets:

Philippines Market:

As per the study in partnership with Nielsen, search plays a rather important role in the overall engagement on the Internet. About 80% of Filipinos go online for leisure and entertainment purposes from 68% listening to international music, 65% for local music, 59% view photos and videos to 55% play games.

Whereas 82% of Filipinos youth engage with social networking activities as opposed to search in the country.

Meanwhile the focus on entertainment and social networking suggests that the 10 to 29 year old demographic still remains the core audience segment that drives Internet adoption in the Philippines.
Malaysian Market:

Social networking is the most dominant platform in the Malaysian market with 90% communication taking place over social networks. This increased by additional 29% since 2010. Whilst accessing the search engines comes a close second with 89%.

Malaysians seems to be getting quite complacent about buying things like mobiles, clothes etc. online with 40% of shopping happened over Internet using their credit cards.

Google Expansion Plans:

Southeast Asian markets are a strong hold of the search giant where they have set up a new office in Bangkok, Thailand a few days back, followed by setting up an officie in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in January. The Internet firm intends on hiring about 100 people in Southeast Asia alone and 400 more in the region by the end of this year.

Google also plans to open an office in Indonesia in before 2012, that targets the small and medium-sized businesses, according to media reports.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt was in Indonesia in July to meet with the vice president where he talked about the strength of the market, “There are 50 million small businesses in Indonesia, just numerically those will be the engine of growth for the future economy,” Schmidt said.
Japan Market:

According to the Impress R&D's annual white paper on Japan’s latest Internet data, Motoko Hunt, search consultant for AJPR and chairman of SEMPO Asia Pacific Committee, the use of Twitter and Facebook are on a rise in Japan. She also advised of bearing in mind the smartphone search marketing for you online marketing strategy in case you are targeting the 20- to 40- year-old demographic.

Google Analytics not as huge in China

Despite Google Analytics being the most popular web analytics tool for online marketers globally, In China Mainland it's a different story altogether. Michael Xu, senior VP of business operations at Gridsum and co-chairman for SEMPO Greater China puts forwards the two reasons why:

“1. Severe data inaccuracy because Google quit Mainland China market.

2. Requires medium level programming skills but provides little service or support.”
SEM tools for the Chinese market

For the Chinese market one needs the mix of both the search and social. Microblogging, should be in the forefront according to the CNNIC study that revealed more than 195 million users are currently on the platform.

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Yahoo Search Algo To Transition To Bing For India, Whilst Google Eyes Southeast Asia!

Yahoo's CEO Carol Bartz has been fired over the phone by the Chairman of the Board Roy Bostock. The information was given to her when both were on planes headed in different directions. The irony.

Here's a look at email she sent out to all employees where she took a passing shot at the board in her “goodbye” note.

Bartz joined the company 34 months ago with the pledge of turning the company around. However she has been unable to deliver which is clearly evident with the stock price being pretty much the same compared to when she became the CEO. Also having some run-ins with co-founder Jerry Yang, who'd stepped down from the CEO position to make way for her, did not build a strong case for her.

In her reign Yahoo has had a few issues about devising company's objectives clearly. For example they rejected Microsoft's bid at over $30 a share back in 2008. A rather lucrative price that everyone holding the $12.50 shares would have widely accepted today.

Here's the Yahoo! side of the story:

“Yahoo! Announces Leadership Reorganization

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sep 06, 2011

Yahoo, the premier digital media company, today announced a leadership reorganization under which the Board of Directors has appointed Timothy Morse interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, replacing Carol Bartz, who has been removed by the Board from her role as Chief Executive Officer.

The Board has also named key senior Yahoo! executives to a newly formed Executive Leadership Council tasked with supporting Morse in managing the Company’s day-to-day operations until a permanent chief executive is appointed, as well as supporting a comprehensive strategic review that the Board has initiated to position the Company for future growth.

Roy Bostock, Chairman of the Yahoo! Board, said, “The Board sees enormous growth opportunities on which Yahoo! can capitalize, and our primary objective is to leverage the Company’s leadership and current business assets and platforms to execute against these opportunities. We have talented teams and tremendous resources behind them and intend to return the Company to a path of robust growth and industry-leading innovation. We are committed to exploring and evaluating possibilities and opportunities that will put Yahoo! on a trajectory for growth and innovation and deliver value to shareholders.”

Bostock continued, “On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Carol for her service to Yahoo! during a critical time of transition in the Company’s history, and against a very challenging macro-economic backdrop. I would also like to express the Board’s appreciation to Tim and thank him for accepting this important role. We have great confidence in his abilities and in those of the other executives who have been named to the Executive Leadership Council.”

In addition to Morse, who will also continue in his role as Chief Financial Officer of Yahoo!, the Executive Leadership Council will consist of Michael Callahan, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary; Blake Irving, Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer; Ross Levinsohn, Executive Vice President, Americas; Rich Riley, Senior Vice President & MD, EMEA Region; and Rose Tsou, Senior Vice President, APAC Region. The Co-founders of Yahoo!, David Filo and Jerry Yang, will each continue as Chief Yahoo and will provide counsel to Tim and the Executive Leadership Council.

“It is an honor to be selected for this role and lead the Company with this world-class team of executives. I look forward to working with the Executive Leadership Council and the talented employees of Yahoo!, and to partnering with the Board to invest in the organization and continue to drive its ongoing growth plans,” said Tim Morse, Interim Chief Executive Officer.

The Board is commencing a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer and expects to engage the services of a nationally recognized executive search firm to help it identify candidates for the position as expeditiously as possible.”

The Future of Yahoo:

What next for Yahoo is anyone's guess as of now. AT&T, News Corp and Verizon have been speculated as the prospective buyers. So the question remains, will Yahoo go private? Or split up? Or will they be able to regain their popularity?

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Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz Gets Axed Over The Phone!

Bing's Webmaster Tools now shows integrated data from Yahoo Traffic in some reports and areas.

The integration began on the 12th August, however, September will the first month that will see complete merger of the combined data. Justifying this amalgamation, Bing's Duane Forrester commented, "Given the combined effort the Search Alliance represents, it makes sense to showcase relevant data from both engines within a webmaster account."

The good news is, most areas and the data within your accounts itself are not going to be affected with this merger.

Following are the noticeable changes that are seen in the Traffic Tab's, Traffic summary report and Page Traffic reports:

• Impressions- will increase as a result of showing combined impressions for the listings across both search engines
• Clicks- will also increase because of the integration of the two data numbers
• Click Through Rates (CTR) will also either rise or fall as a direct consequence of the above two

If you are worried if this will affect your actual ranking, rest assured as these changes will only reflect the numbers shown and not your actual rankings.

Also note that, at the moment the data is combined by default and is updated in all the markets wherein Bing powers Yahoo search.

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Now Bing Webmaster Tools To Show Integrated Data From Yahoo!

Yahoo! is sending out updates announcing the migration of its Yahoo's European organic search results to Bing's search index tomorrow.

The email sent out by Yahoo! reads as following:

“Dear Advertiser,

We wanted to let you know that we are now ready to transition Yahoo! organic search results (the non-paid listings found on the main body of the Yahoo! search page) to Microsoft. This is an important aspect of the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance and will help us toward our goal of further improving the overall relevance of Yahoo! organic results globally.

The organic search transition will begin on August 3rd 2011 for Yahoo! European properties in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

While no action is required on your part for this transition, if organic search results are an important source of referrals to your website, you’ll want to make sure that you're prepared for this change:

• Compare your organic search rankings on Yahoo! Search and Bing for the keywords that drive your business, help determine any potential impact to your traffic and sales
  
• Decide if you’d like to modify your paid search campaigns to compensate for any changes in organic referrals that you anticipate
  
• Review the Bing webmaster tools and optimise your website for the Bing crawler, to help ensure your site is prominently listed in both Yahoo! and Bing organic search results.

Please note that Yahoo! is NOT transitioning paid search results at this time, and you should continue managing your Yahoo! Search Marketing account as usual. We will provide you with ample notice prior to the paid search transition of your market, to help you prepare for a smooth transition.

Kind Regards,

Your partners at Yahoo!”

Back in August 2010, Yahoo announced the transition of its US property. Now it's turn for its European properties to be transformed.

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It's Time For Transition; From Yahoo! UK Organic Search Results To Bing!

Yahoo! has announced they are going to pull the plug on one of our favorite SEO tools, Yahoo Site Explorer by the end of this year. The tool saw the light of the day on September 29, 2005.

Though it does not come as surprise, but there is no greater and sadder thing than the power of good bye! I am sure when Yahoo! and Bing decided they wanted to join forces, back in mid 2009, it was decided who will have to abandon their efforts! The shutting down of Yahoo Site Explorer further emphasizes, who wears the pants in this Microsoft and Yahoo relationship.

This news was confirmed by Hemant Minocha, Product Manager, Yahoo Site Explorer, on the official Yahoo! Search Blog as he went on to announce “Having two webmaster portals for a single source for organic results does not add enough value. Once organic results are transitioned to Bing in all the markets, we plan to shut down Yahoo! Site Explorerand Microsoft’s Webmaster Tools will be the source for Bing and Yahoo! webmaster site and analytics data.” Talk about getting your partner's back despite compromising your star child, Yahoo Site Explorer.

So, are you wondering, what will you do once it shuts down? Well, Yahoo! has offered a simple and not a surprising solution to that; webmasters are recommended to sign up with Bing Webmaster Tools and use that in stead.

Doesn't this make Yahoo! sound like the all self sacrificing matured adult? But, I am sure many of you will be like, how can Yahoo! make it sound like that you won’t miss the old Site Explorer? Not to mention, will, Microsoft provide us detailed link data for competitors? Also what about search engine provided look at your back links? Of course there are plenty of third party tools to get at this data, such as Majestic SEO and SEOmoz. But still I am not convinced, there are just too many unanswered questions.

Mr. Minocha further propagates Bing by stating “The Bing Webmaster Center team has been actively adding new features over the past few months, including detailed traffic statistics and a new inbound links feature. Microsoft is also committed to build analytic reports that include Yahoo! search usage.” does that make you less afraid of loosing your beloved and switching to Bing instead?

So are you wondering…

• What is the exact date that Site Explorer shut down?

To that Mr. Minocha had the following to say “We are working with Microsoft to transition organic results in all markets to the Microsoft Search platform. Site Explorer will shut down once all markets are transitioned. This is expected later this year. We will keep updating you with progress of the transition at our Search Blog.”

• From when should you start using Bing Webmaster Center?

We recommend, the sooner, the better.

• Should you stop using Site Explorer starting now?

Neither we or Yahoo! Says so. Wait till Yahoo gets transitioned to Microsoft search platform firsy. So, until then, keep sending them your site/sitemap submissions to enable yahoo to provide you with fresh and relevant data for markets that have not switched over.

• In the future will you need to optimize for Yahoo! and Bing Search engines separately?

Indeed! Yahoo! anticipates that by the end of the year, their organic results will be powered by Microsoft’s search platforms globally.

• What's the future of Site Explorer APIs like?

To that, Yahoo! answered, “The APIs were scheduled to be shut down at the end of last year, but the timeframe has been extended for the YDN Site Explorer API up until September 15, 2011.”

Whilst the future for Yahoo Site Explorer is clear. We will need to wait and watch what will things be like under the reign of Bing Webmaster Center.

To kick start your Bing Webmaster Center experience log on to the Bing webmaster's site and learn all that you need to about the site.

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This Year End To See The End To Yahoo Site Explorer!

Yahoo! has announced the launch of a beta version of Yahoo Search Direct, calling the event “the beginning of the beginning of a new era in search” (that! we'll wait and see). Search Direct claims to give its users 'answers' and not just 'links.'

Here's an excerpt from the post that elaborates how Search Direct works:

“We offer the top 30 results in a way that is extremely simple to comprehend. As the user types, we provide the top 10 most likely searches and for each of those we provide the top 3 results. We call it search previews. It provides bite size results that make it incredibly easy for a user to scan and actually comprehend the top results. And once the user finds the site they need, we provide direct access to it, removing the unnecessary step of a results page. In removing all the noise, you’re finally able to focus on your search intent, getting directly to your answer and getting on with your day. Awesome.”

Given the above explanation, it would be incorrect to say that Yahoo! has copied Google Instant by coming up with Search Direct. Moreover, Yahoo launched the Yahoo Instant Search in 2005, way before Google Instant came. It rather seems more like a formidable rival.

Features that you can find in the Yahoo Search Direct are:

• Trending Searches – The moment the cursor hits the search box, top search trends appear and are updated every 10 minutes to display the latest and greatest search trends.
• Search Previews – Search Direct predicts the search term as you type, providing the 10 most likely searches. You can then easily scan each option to see the related top results and find the best match for your needs.
• Direct Answers – For many common searches, Search Direct provides instant answers before you click the Search button. Find an address or phone number, a three-day weather forecast, financial stock performance, the top trending stories at Yahoo! News, or when and where a movie is playing – all without going to a results page.
• Direct Results – When you scan the search options and find the site you need, Search Direct provides exactly that – direct access to the site. No more overwhelming pages of links.
• Rich Content – For all top searches about sports, top news stories, and finance, Search Direct displays rich content that only the world’s largest digital media company can provide. For example, type “n” to get the Yahoo! News display, which always shows the top two trending stories.

Trending searches, search previews, direct answers and results etc., indeed will take the task of following numerous links (happens a lot of times) to find that one link that perfectly fits your criteria. If it does deliver, it means faster, easy and direct search results. Sounds awesome enough indeed. Search Direct is available on search.yahoo.com, try it now.

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Yahoo! Launches Search Direct!

Yahoo! is bringing you each and every action of the ICC World Cup 2011, currently being played in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Yahoo! announced that its users can catch all action and also get relevant information on anything related to the ongoing mega sporting event. From Live Scores, Schedules and Player Profiles, you can get them all from Yahoo!’s Cricket property with few easy steps.

You can get updates on (up to two) live cricket matches, by just running a search for a simple query, for example, 'cricket live' or 'cricket.' You can also see which team is batting and the scores of the two batsmen who are currently batting. Also, you can see match results with final scores for any recently completed matches.

Any information for upcoming matches including their venues, day of the match and starting times etc., can also be acquired. Yahoo! can display up to three upcoming matches' information for you.

If you are looking for player profiles, you may find in the results images, posts, videos and so on. Even more, Yahoo! can give you a quick peek at each player's (past or current) statistics, from the oldest to the most current, in all forms of international game.

Another option that might interest you is the search for specific schedules or match results between countries of your choice.

“For example, you might want to know the only schedule for all matches played by West Indies or result of match between India and Bangladesh.”

The Yahoo! Cricket is also the official event website for the ICC World Cup 2011. So, go visit it and get all the cricket information you want and don't miss out anything.

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World Cup Cricket 2011 – Live Action From Yahoo!

We have been tailing the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance's movement. The first part of this global transition of Yahoo's search results to Microsoft saw Bing powering the Yahoo organic search results in the US and Canada. The next move was announced last week with 3 new countries – Australia, Brazil and Mexico being served by Bing.

The next country to be affected by the transition could be the UK. Although without any announcement on the same from Yahoo! or Microsoft, this guesswork is based on the experience of some webmasters and SEOs in the UK who are using the Yahoo! search. A Webmasterworld discussion revealed this interesting point.

According to the conversation, a person (in the UK) who used the Yahoo! search reported noticing two different indexes in the results which also rotated when the result page was refreshed. It means a search conducted twice gives two different results on Yahoo! in the UK. The same seems to be happening in the Bing search results too.

This strongly suggests that the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance is conducting tests in regards to their global transition program. Hence, if that is the case, UK might be the next country to be served by the new Bing powered Yahoo! search.

Post from: PageTraffic SEO Blog Now updated thrice a day!

Yahoo! UK Could be The Next to be Powered by Bing

The Yahoo search blog announced on January 13th, 2011, that the Yahoo! and Microsoft Search Alliance team is now serving in three new countries – Australia, Brazil and Mexico. Kartik Ramakrishnan, Vice President, Yahoo! Search Transition, commented on the blog, “As planned, we are moving forward with the global transition of certain Yahoo! Search back-end functions to Microsoft’s search platform, and have just completed this process for organic search in Australia, Brazil and Mexico.”

The transition that started in August 2010 with Bing officially powering Yahoo's organic search results in USA and Canada, was followed by Microsoft adCenter powering all the paid search advertisements on both Bing and Yahoo! owned and operated properties and publisher networks in the U.S. and Canadian markets, in October 2010. There have been extensive tests conducted to ensure that the users still get the conveniences of the Yahoo! search with the speed and power of Microsoft's Bing after the transition is complete. As for now, folks in Australia, Brazil and Mexico where the alliance is now serving, will see a “Powered by Bing” indicator at their search results pages' bottom.

Another update in the latest blog regarding the alliance was that this move is a step further, for the Yahoo! And Microsoft alliance, towards their continuing attempt for a quality transition with their partners and advertisers around the world. The alliance, as planned, seems to be progressing well in bringing benefits of the combined marketplace to their worldwide customers. The full transition is expected to be completed by early 2012 for all markets worldwide.

Post from: PageTraffic SEO Blog Now updated thrice a day!

Microsoft Bing Now Powering Yahoo! Search in Three More Countries

Happy New Years! I hope you all had a bash at the New Year's eve, and that you are on high spirits with hopes and wishes, looking forward into good things as the year unfolds. Why should not anyone be? Look at the search engines, even the logos and themes there are dressed up in cool new looks.

Some have unique logos for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and some have the same logo for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. To prolong the spirit of joy and celebration, below are what search engines have donned. Take a look!

Google has the same logo for both, but changes the landing page based on it being eve or day.

The middle that reads, MMX1, I believe means 2010 + 1.

Yahoo's Static New Years Logo:

Bing's New Years Eve Theme:

Bing's New Years Day Theme:

Ask.com's New Years Eve Theme:

Dogpile:

Baidu's New Years Logo:

So, here's hoping that you find everything you search for this year. Search on, and Happy New Years! once again.

Post from: PageTraffic SEO Blog Now updated thrice a day!

Logos From Google, Yahoo, Bing & Others for the New Year 2011