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View Full Version : Yahoo operators re-directing to Site Explorer


grasshopper
07-14-2006, 02:58 PM
i use Yahoo! pretty much exclusively for checking link info. i've always found search.yahoo.com to deliver more accurate data than Site Explorer.

today, an interesting thing happened. i went to search.yahoo.com to run some queries, and site:, link:, and linkdomain: operators all re-directed me to Site Explorer. here was the message:

Your "linkdomain:" query has been redirected to Site Explorer. You can continue to use normal web search for other queries.

i wondered if Yahoo had decided that all operator queries would go to Site Explorer from now on, so i had a few friends run queries from search.yahoo.com, and none of them were re-directed. so i cleared my cookies, tried again, and this time no re-direct to Site Explorer.

apparently Y! is interested in identifying "heavy users" of these operators, and funneling them to Site Explorer - maybe to reduce query data that they consider "clutter" in their regular search index? has anyone else seen this?

rustybrick
07-14-2006, 03:09 PM
I know this was Yahoo's plan, but I don't see it when I try those commands at search.yahoo.com. I suspect your a test case. :)

rustybrick
07-14-2006, 03:54 PM
Confirmed, Yahoo is testing this.

http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060714-144430

TheotherTim
07-17-2006, 05:07 AM
Site Explorer actually has more accurate counts on links than using search.yahoo.com so I would use this interface. We also have an API for Site Exporer which should make your querying easier if you are doing it on a larger scale.
Tim

grasshopper
07-20-2006, 12:11 PM
Site Explorer actually has more accurate counts on links than using search.yahoo.com so I would use this interface.

thanks for the reply, tim. could you give us any insight into what differences exist at the index level that would make data returned from search.yahoo.com less accurate?

TheotherTim
07-28-2006, 05:19 AM
I actually said just the counts were more accurate- the data is the same. The counts on the main search site will be close just not as close.
Tim

grasshopper
07-29-2006, 12:09 PM
serves me right for not reading more closely ;) thanks again for the reply, tim.