Review: Yahoo! Axis search and browser tool worth a look

After using the new Yahoo! Axis search tool and browser for a while, I think it's worth exploring. But I'm not sure if it'll be a game changer for Internet searching and browsing.

I installed the desktop version for the iMac and immediately noticed the search box in the lower left corner of my Safari browser window, along with icons for favorites and a home button.

What's important here is that the search box is always there and waiting. You can say Google has the upper right corner of your browser window for searching and Yahoo! has the lower left corner for their search box.

When you start a search, the difference between - let's say Google or Bing - and Yahoo! is that Axis give you miniature Web pages of your search results instead of links. A nice horizontal-scrolling pane of results appear across the bottom portion of your browser window.

The Axis approach to search results is much more visually appealing than the other search-engine guys. You can also save a favorite Web page as a "My Favorites" or "Read Later" bookmarks. It'll also help to log in into your Yahoo! account, as these options will be found after clicking the home page icon in the lower left corner of the browser window.

Another nice Axis feature is if you're not searching for anything in particular, you can get a list of Trending Searches of what people are searching for the most at any given time. It's ironic that "yahoo axis" was at the top of the list when I took a peek.

As one reviewer has already mentioned, it seem that Yahoo! results are rather prominent in what's offered after a search. But I guess that's to be expected. After all, it is their technology.

When I searched for articles on "Facebook stock," I got results from several choices, such as zdnet.com, azcentral.com, The Wall Street Journal and CNN Money, as well as Yahoo! News. It's just a simple matter of choosing which small representation of the full Web page from the search results grabs your attention.

I'll try out the Axis apps for the iPhone and iPad on my next venture into the latest Internet search and browsing technology.

This technology has certainly put Yahoo! in the spotlight. We'll need to wait and see if Axis gets a thumbs up from Internet users. Stay tuned.

Contact us: ehart@earnestharttech.com | Follow on Twitter @ehart

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