Monday, 11:00 am - Social Search: Up Close with Yahoo

Really good session here, with a handful of Yahoo! officials introducing and speaking on the various social search tools Y has in its toolbox. Yahoo is so far out in front on this (i.e., compared to Google and MSN) that they can really set a standard for using the human/social element to shape search results.

Yumio Saneyoshi from Yahoo! Answers talks about Yahoo believing in the “Culture of Sharing.” I think he says the phrase came from Caterina Fake, the co-founder of Flickr who now works with Yahoo. Says Answers IS being spidered by both Yahoo and Google — so that obviously makes it a new opportunity for businesses to get information/links. In fact, during the Q&A, Saneyoshi would add that it’s okay for businesses to link to their own sites with Yahoo Answers as long as the answer benefits the community.

Kakul Strivastava of Flickr said that nearly 1 million pictures are uploaded there every day. Incredible! During the Q&A, I asked if they have any plans to make sites like Flickr and Yahoo Answers more business-friendly. Kakul specifically said they don’t want businesses posting product catalog photos on Flickr — it’s for personal photos. (Personal comment: That sounds good, but they need a dose of reality if they think businesses won’t be using these social search sites.)

tags: sessj06, sessanjose06, yahoo, flickr, social search