Yahoo! Mindset: A New Era in Search

Yahoo has launched a Beta of a new search function. It’s called Yahoo! Mindset and it allows you to choose the type of results you want in organic search (i.e., commercial or research-oriented) You type in your search terms and then at the top of the results page, you can move a slider bar indicating your preference for shopping results or research results.

I tried it for Los Angeles Hotels. When I put the slider to shopping, I got the major hotel chains and booking agencies. When I put the slider to research, I got the LA News and vacation and travel guide sites.

This could have pretty big ramifications on the future of SEO when the same search can yield two completely different sets of results in the top 10 depending on where the searcher sets the slider. We’ll be watching this closely and keep you posted.