The launch of Yahoo Axis has been making waves in SEO news, but the question surrounding it whether or not it is enough to make Yahoo search relevant enough to worry about targeting anymore. It has plenty of visual bells and whistles and results served up by Bing, but aside from the novelty of being new, many SEOs and users are wondering if anyone will stick with it or head back to Google or Bing after a brief tour. While Axis allows search results to be displayed without having to leave the webpage a user is currently on, not much has changed really.
So far, the visual overhaul has left something to be desired. At first glance it is really nice, but it doesn’t take long for the shine to come off the apple and the appearance of just annoyance to arise. There are major security vulnerabilities that have yet to be addressed. They are big enough that it’s not even worth looking at the new design just because it really is that wide open. Add in that the mix of Yahoo-centric content and sponsored results being slid into the Bing returns making for more of the same , nothing of real significance changed.
For SEOs and webmasters this is just a reminder that new doesn’t mean better. Yahoo search still has major issues that a cosmetic facelift didn’t address. Once they get their security issues under control, it may be worth revisiting for some niche use, but this is not a move that will return Yahoo to search relevance. Yahoo made the effort at least, but it looks a day late and a few dollars short of being a passable model.
Tags: newsfeed, seo news, yahoo axis
