Yahoo web sites & web pages question

Old format returns, what's happening here?

[Beachboy]

OK I haven't been paying close attention to what Yahoo has been doing (who can blame me?), but I have had occasion to visit it several times in the last month.

When I had done so, the Yahoo directory and Google results were COMBINED with the Yahoo directory entries denoted by a little red Y on the listing, and a little link to the category. This was the default, no link clicking involved.

Today I go back to Yahoo and we have the old format, with directory results in "web sites" and Google results separately in "web pages." Search query brings up the directory SERPs first, followed by the link to the Google results.

Will someone please bring me up to date on what is going on over there? Appreciate it, thank you very much. :)

[Mark_A]

Beachboy I find myself in a similar situation wrt Yahoo, recently looking at them again for some paid submissions and find their dir structure in many cases all over the place plus a significant difference between the amount of PR Google assigns to similar dmoz categories and those in Yahoo.

I think there just may be something about the issue of Yahoo - Google relations behind changes but that could be the drink talking :-)

[Dante_Maure]

See the following thread for details:

[webmasterworld.com...]

[Mark_A]

Thanks Dante_Maure interesting thread.
Change is a given I guess.

[Beachboy]

Thanks Dante. Pity...I preferred the Yahoo search with the combined results. Far better, but no doubt less profitable for Yahoo. I will be interested to see if there are going to be new developments.

[Dante_Maure]

Happy to be of service Mark and Beachboy. :)

Pity...I preferred the Yahoo search with the combined results.

Don't get too disappointed yet... you can be sure that the entire purpose of the variations in results is for testing purposes and that they are closely watching both viewer's responses as well as how it affects their bottom line.

It may very well be a snapshot of things to come.

[webmama]

I ran a WebPosition report for www.quicken.com/investments. WP reports a 'new' #1 position on YAHOO for a 'new' directory listing for this URL under the word 'brokerage'. For the life of me I can not 'see' that result. I can't get to the Web Site results - even if I click on the right hand link to Web Sites, I'm still getting the Web Pages results. How can I show this to my client to get the credit for the top result?

Barbara 'WebMama' Coll

[Dante_Maure]

1) Delete all of your Yahoo cookies.

2) Try the search again.

2) Repeat as necessary. :)

This has worked on numerous occasions for myself and others, but if the "test" they've been doing with the SERPs becomes the new standard default... all the cookie deleting in the world won't resurrect the old results.