Yahoo unveils new search program

LOS ANGELES, May 24 (UPI) -- Yahoo says it new Axis search program for the iPhone and iPad, which will also run as a desktop plug-in, will make searching the Internet easier.

The program is meant to streamline the traditional three-step search process of launching a search, retrieving results and then exploring those results, Yahoo said.

Axis does away with the middle step of returning search results as a page of links, instead returning a snapshot of the actual Web pages found, Ethan Batraski, Yahoo director of product, told the Los Angeles Times.

Axis "turns search into a companion, not a destination," Batraski said.

When terms are entered in the search/URL field, Axis responds automatically with page thumbnails, not just a text list of links.

"Our search strategy is predicated on two core beliefs -- one, that people want answers, not links, and two, that consumer-facing search is ripe for innovative disruption," Shashi Seth, senior vice president at Yahoo Inc. Connections, said. "With Axis, we have redefined and re-architected the search and browse experience from the ground up."

For many users more links just mean more noise, Batraski said, and Axis aims to "get you to your answers as quickly as possible."