Yahoo aims at Google with new search engine

IDG News Service - Yahoo Inc. rolled out an updated search engine today in a bid to regain its place in the competitive search market, which has been dominated recently by the presence of rival Google Inc.
Among the improvements, Yahoo Search has been redesigned for a sleeker look, with reduced graphical ads, shortcuts to information and extended search capabilities. The service has a new dedicated search page at http://search.yahoo.com, where the enhancements will be phased in over the next few days.
The move comes in the wake of the Internet company's purchase of search technology provider Inktomi Corp. in December and back-end improvements Yahoo made late last year (see story).
While it fights to regain ground lost to Google over the past few years, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo still counts on the company for some of its search results. It's hoping that the combination of Google and Inktomi technology, as well as its own distinct offerings such as sports scores and Yellow Pages, will put Yahoo back on top.
The improved service offers features such as image search and customized search preferences, including the ability to search in 30 languages and an advanced search by domain, country and time. In addition, the company plans to continue to update the service, drawing on the news, shopping, personals, Yellow Pages and job-search categories of its portal.