Yahoo! (YHOO) is launching a new version of its search engine. The new product will bring the user results "incorporate a broader array of potential sources, such as videos or pages of books from online libraries, as well as data created by the search engine itself," according to The Wall Street Journal.
Micorosft (MSFT) and Ask.com have already put similar products into the market. It was not even important for Yahoo! to be first out with a better product. Perhaps that is because the new product is obsolete already. In other words, it is no relevant on the day of its own debut, because it is unlikely to make a dent in Google’s (GOOG) share of the search market which is well over 50% in the US.
The Yahoo! announcement is another reminder that the three companies that trail Google in the business must introduce new products at great expense and commitment of engineering resources, but they are very unlikely to improve their fortunes.
New search functions are like new cars from Ford (F). They are necessary to be in the business, but they will never outsell Toyota (TM).
Douglas A. McIntyre
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