It would appear that Yahoo are making all the headlines this week. Firstly they have reported profit increases for the 2nd quarter of 2009 making $141 million for the three months up to June. This was reported to be an increase of 8% compared with the previous year. Much like Google this is further evidence that online has been the way forward for companies during the economic downturn.
Secondly – on top of the new homepage design which we blogged about and the acquisition of Xoopit – Yahoo are to tem up with Splashtop to help bring instant search to the PC for the first time.
Splashtop already allows users to access email, chat with friends and share photos in seconds after turning on their PC. However with this new venture they want to make it so that as soon as you switch on your computer you will presented with the Yahoo search box instantly.
There is debate about whether instant search from your PC will take off. Greg Sterling form Search Engine Land certainly doesn’t think so being quoted on BBC News Online as saying that “[he] don’t think these deals have a dramatic impact on market share” and that “people’s habits are fairly well established now when they go online”. These are very valid points however search has not been with us that long and so there could still be many twists and turns in how we use the web yet. I guess only time will tell…