Online Marketing Consultant

David Eaves informed that UK based users who are trying to reach Yahoo.com now being redirected to Yahoo! UK domain.

Flyerguy a memebr of Webmaster World has also confirmed in his post that German users are also redirecting to Yahoo! German domain.

According to Barry Schwartz this has to do with Yahoo Now Showing Geo-Location Under Search Ads. Yahoo has told him that they rolled out that feature last “week with the roll out of a new “geo labels” feature.” He feels that same geo-technology was applied to this.

But in India I am still reaching www.yahoo.com domain instead of http://in.yahoo.com but last few days it is showing two search options Search Web and Search India. That wasn’t before.

If you seach with any of the option, Yahoo shows &fp_ip=IN in its search result URL. In India, www.yahoo.com is not redirecting yet but search results are fetching from Indian IP addresses.

In High Ranking Forum, a member has noticed that Yahoo! Search Marketing Ambassador signup page is no longer accepting new members.

I didn’t find any updates from Yahoo! officials. Is Yahoo dropping Search Marketing completely? or they are dissolving the Ambassador program? or is for the time being? All speculations are moving around.

Forum members say they can still log in and see their reports. What’s going on, Yahoo?

Yahoo! has launched Glue pages in Yahoo! India. Glue Pages mix search results with visual information from the best sites anywhere on the Web. User can browse images, videos, articles and more all on one page.

Gopal Krishna, Head of Audience, Yahoo! India said:

Searching on Glue Pages Beta will result in an experience that promises more than just web links. Users will receive more relevant, visually appealing search results from across the Web in one topical page. The new Glue Pages Beta feature for Yahoo! India Search supports our strategy to make Yahoo! the starting point on the Internet and demonstrates our commitment to provide a compelling online search experience.

Yesterday, Yahoo! search has released new SearchScan feature which will protect users from viruses, spyware and spam websites.

It is influenced by Macfee’s SiteAdvisor technology. This SearchScan is turned on by default for all users in the U.S., Canada, India, UK, France, Italy, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Spain.

SearchScan will protect mainly three types of risks: Browser Exploits, Dangerous Downloads and Unsolicited Email. According to Yahoo!:

Browser Exploits — These are sites that can stealthily harm a user’s computer or install malware simply by visiting the site. Beginning today, any such sites or pages included in McAfee’s data will be removed from search results automatically.
Dangerous Downloads — SearchScan will display warnings next to search results for sites that offer potentially dangerous software, such as viruses, spyware or adware. Users often may be unaware that these can be passed along with the screensavers, games and other software downloads.
Unsolicited Email — SearchScan will alert users to scanned sites that send unsolicited emails or inappropriately share email addresses with third parties.

It is a nice move by Yahoo! to provide safe search to its users.

As you aware may of Yahoo! Search Assist was launched on the Yahoo! Search. Initially it was launched for U.S. results page but now Yahoo! has come up Search Assist for 15 other countries and hoping to more to come soon. These countries are:

Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Canada
France
Germany
India
Italy
Mexico
New Zealand
Philippines
Singapore
Spain
UK
Vietnam

This international versions of Search Assist can be accessed throught Yahoo! toolbar and My Yahoo! as well. It has taken care of local search behaviour and tendencies for local users.