Yahoo India Revamped Search With “Glue Pages”
Mumbai – With Google-owned YouTube launched its India Web site Wednesday, Yahoo spared no time in launching a new concept for Yahoo! India Search called “Glue Pages Beta,” available exclusively at www.yahoo.in.
“Yahoo selected India for the initial test of its new search concept that aggregates text, images, and video results on a single results page.”
Yahoo! assert “Glue Pages Beta” takes search to the next level by collating and integrating the most relevant information from across the whole wide Web onto a single topical results page.
Glue Pages, which the company began, offering in beta form to Yahoo search users in India, combine traditional search results with a wealth of other related information. “Glue Pages, uses ‘intuitive search’ to put together the most relevant text, images, and video content from across the Web for select search queries. Results show up in one place in a visually appealing manner, and alongside classic Yahoo! India Search results. There would also be links to other Glue Pages on topics related to your query,” Yahoo! said.
Conventional search results appear in a block on the left side of the page, whereas other components appear that spotlight sponsored links, recipes, medical information, Wikipedia entries, stock charts, Flickr images, train schedules, restaurant lists, news, and even Google blog search results.
Yahoo’s Indian team developed the feature and so far there are no plans to bring it to the United States or other areas, said spokeswoman Kathryn Kelly.
“We encourage other regions to develop things that work for their regions,” Kelly said. “If it does get traction, potentially something like it could launch in the United States.”
India was preferred for the beta of Glue Pages for the reason that it is an important market for Yahoo, has a growing number of new users, plentiful local content, and a large number of developers who can develop applications around Yahoo’s technologies, said Tapan Bhat, a senior vice president at Yahoo, Thursday.
“Yahoo also has a key research and development center in Bangalore, India.”
Speaking on the occasion, Gopal Krishna, head (Audience) of Yahoo! India, said, “Searching on Glue Pages Beta will result in an experience that promises more than just Web links. Users will receive more relevant, visually-appealing search results from across the Web in one topical page.”
Although mail is still the dominant application for Yahoo users in India, search is also becoming very important, said Krishna.
Adding to it; Sandeep Shrivastava, Director (Search) of Yahoo! India, said, “Glue Pages Beta limits guesswork for the user by providing the best of the Web, all onto one, at-a-glance page. Over time, Glue Pages Beta will be made available to more categories that are relevant to users in India.”
“If the beta is successful, then Yahoo will roll out Glue Pages in other countries as well,” Bhat said.
Last but not least, even if it is unlikely that Yahoo and Google timed things this way, it is at least worth noting that Glue Pages Beta is coming out just after YouTube India was launched.