Yahoo is unmistakably working with Web security technology specialist in an attempt to scale higher on the search ladder with the new SearchScan service it launched in partnership with McAfee. The partnership addresses Web site security issues, such as identifying sites associated with adware, malware, spyware, phishing, and spam.
“Starting Tuesday, there will be hardly unsafe Web sites appearing in Yahoo searches.”
The reason is that the deal, an exclusive for Yahoo, plans to start filtering out malicious Web sites using McAfee’s SiteAdvisor software to help users to mitigate their worries about inadvertently clicking on sites that can infect or damage systems, with a variety of indication with red warning text and links to McAfee information about what risks the site poses, the companies said.
Following Google’s lead, Yahoo is acting to make its search engine safer. Google started flagging risky search results since February 2007. However, the portal has a long road ahead of it if it wants to come close to Google.
Announced in beta, the innovative SearchScan feature, charged by McAfee SiteAdvisor technology, provides always-on alerts for sites with security fears involving spyware, adware and other malicious software. McAfee SiteAdvisor checks and ranks almost every trafficked site on the Internet.
“Along with the indications with a red warning messages about sites that host spyware, adware, or virus-infected downloads; the technology also provide information on sites that have links to other Web sites with dangerous material; and sites that have a track record of harvesting e-mail addresses later used to send spam,” the companies said.
“Searching on the Web can present a minefield of spyware, malware, and other malicious sites that can cause serious harm to your PC and cost you valuable time and money,” said Vish Makhijani, senior VP and general manager of Yahoo Search, in a blog post. “We are taking steps to make you feel safe when searching the Web — warning you about dangerous sites before you click on them.”
According to Makhijani, “No other search engine today offers you this level of warning before visiting sites.”
In accordance with a Google security survey issued in February, 2% of malicious Web sites were delivering malware via advertising. Because ads tend to be placed on popular sites, searchers encounter them more often than their general prevalence suggests. “On average, 12% of the overall search results that returned landing pages were associated with malicious content due to unsafe ads,” the report said.
“Research shows that four out of five Web site visits start with a search, and consumers who use Yahoo Search will now be alerted to high-risk Web sites,” said Tim Dowling, vice president of Santa Clara, Calif.-based McAfee’s Web Security Group. “This protects users from known malicious threats such as browser exploits that will wreck their PC with a single click or spyware that can lead to identity theft.”
The collaboration developed in the wake of Yahoo shares dropping 15 percent only two days after Microsoft withdrew its bid for the company.
“Undoubtedly, such deals with security agencies are going to become more and more commonplace,” Yankee Group analyst Laura DiDio said in a statement. “Anything that helps customers out where you have two companies partnering to offer alerts to potentially dangerous Web sites is a good thing.”
The Yahoo-McAfee initiative also is clearly an attempt by Yahoo to stay apace with Google, she added. “It is without doubt an attempt on Yahoo’s part to stay fresh and edgy and keep up with the Joneses. They want more people to click on their site to do search requests. … If they were in any other market, they would not be under the kind of pressure they are.”
Asked whether Yahoo’s new association with McAfee represents a conflict of interest that might affect the search engine’s ranking in McAfee’s upcoming survey, Dowling replied, “It is hard to say whether there is a real conflict of interest. It is a pretty quantitative study.” He added that due to Yahoo’s commitment to cleaner search results, “I would expect Yahoo to be the safest search engine, or one of them.”
SiteAdvisor is available for download as a plug-in to Firefox or Internet explorer; however Yahoo has been actively engaged since late last year to integrate McAfee’s Web site rating technology into their search engine servers, according to Priyank Garg, a director of product management with Yahoo.
“The Yahoo service could make life significantly harder for those who would attack people’s computers, however.”
“We notice millions of clicks on a number of these sites through our search engine today,” Garg said. “It is going to have a material impact in distribution of this content.”
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo’s SearchScan is now available to Web users in the U.S., Canada, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Spain.