Yahoo! to the Max: An Extreme Searcher Guide

Citation

Mason, D. (2006), "Yahoo! to the Max: An Extreme Searcher Guide", Online Information Review, Vol. 30 No. 1, pp. 84-85. https://doi.org/10.1108/14684520610650381

Ran Hock has established an enviable reputation for his series of books about search engines and online searching. They are always detailed, insightful and up to date. This book continues that tradition of excellence.

This book focuses on one search engine – Yahoo!. For many people Google has become their only search engine and “googling” has become so ubiquitous that the term has entered the language. However, Yahoo! is a serious contender for the “best search” software. In the 2006 version it offers a plethora of new features and a depth of complexity such that it needs a dedicated guide.

Yahoo! has changed almost out of recognition since it started in 1994. It was originally known as “directory of recommended web pages” and was such a runaway success that the company went public on the stock market and made its founders instant billionaires. It survived the dot.com meltdown but had to grow and change in response to the new Internet environment and to new competitors. The result is that today Yahoo! has re‐engineered itself into a multi‐faceted Web portal, and has almost abandoned the directory function.

The book systematically explores all the feature of Yahoo!, one after the other, giving an expert's opinion of how to get the best out of what is on offer. The main problem with Yahoo! is that there are so many features that they cannot all be highlighted on the home page. Consequently, many of them become hidden features, accessible only to the expert. However, the book is more than just a guide to where to point and click. There is a 25‐ page guide to how to search the internet and how to understand Yahoo!'s new proprietary search engine. Although the directory is a subsidiary part, it is still a powerful aid to browsing by subject, and gives the researcher all the benefits of a classification created by a human rather than automatically by software. The explanation of how to use the directory is thorough and will show something new to even experienced researchers.

The bulk of the book is about the portal concept that Yahoo! uses and how to integrate the services into one's personal portal. The explanation of how and what to personalise is clear and reflects the author's long expertise with using Yahoo!. One might configure a portal to include automatic news alerts, to eavesdrop on chatrooms and to keep in touch by e‐mail. Hock shows how to leverage all of these to build a personal information source.

The rest of the book covers Yahoo!'s partner organisations and how to integrate with them to buy and sell goods and services over the Internet. There are chapters on how to use the Financials Section, the Children's Section, maps, travel and all other miscellaneous services available.

Overall, this is perhaps not a book for the professional researcher but would be ideal for anyone wanting to make the maximum the use of time and to get the most from this complex product. Hock has done a good job of covering a complex product in structured and easily understood way, and the book can be safely recommended.