Yahoo brings Search Assist to UK

Auto-complete functionality hits Britain

25 October 2007 14:59 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Yahoo Search has announced that Search Assist is coming to the UK.

Anyone who can type ".com" instead of ".co.uk" may already have been using this functionality as the American site got it yonks ago, but it seems the UK has now been graced with the facility too.

Search Assist is like predictive text when you enter something in the Yahoo Search box, although the company claims it goes beyond basic search "suggestions" and gives consumers real-time query suggestions as well as related topics and concepts.

The boasts is that this is a valuable tool when a person is searching on an unfamiliar topic, although some might find it quite annoying to be prompted by an anonymous algorithm - but it can be turned off.

"The new Yahoo! Search is focused on providing consumers with the most relevant information as well as providing the best user experience possible", said Jeff Revoy, VP Yahoo Search and Social Media, Europe.

"We know that consumers want a complete answer, not just links, and the enhancements we are making are focused on getting people to the best answer in one search whether that's a Web link, photo, video or music clip."

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