Putting Yahoo's new search to the test

(Fortune) SAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo has upgraded its search engine but does it really give you more bang for your buck than Google? We road tested the new features to see they fare against the search giant.

The most obvious improvement is Yahoo's Search Assist, which is a box that appears as you type to suggest relevant key words for more targeted results. In effect, the new tool takes the guesswork out of how to narrow a search. For example, start typing "Britney," and Yahoo (Charts, Fortune 500) will suggest Britney Spears news, song titles, videos, and performances.

Search Assist also recommends "concepts" to explore -- ringtones, downloads, lyrics and icon. Google's advanced algorithms are great for people who know how to search effectively, but Yahoo's Assist offers a more direct route to results.

Say you want to search for "Britney Spears music." Google (Charts, Fortune 500) returns news results and then a long list of links to various websites ranging from MTV to Amazon (Charts, Fortune 500) -- more than 16 million links. Do the same search on Yahoo and you'll see clearly organized at the top links to Britney's official site, albums, lyrics, photos and videos. Plus, Yahoo posts three song clips and links to watch music videos on Yahoo Music.

If you're hungry for even more Britney, an audio search (which is available under "more options") returns sample MP3s, all searchable by format, duration and whether or not the song is a major or an alternate release. A separate link will search podcasts. Google doesn't currently offer an audio search.

Google does, however, have a more powerful video search, chiefly because it allows results to be sorted a variety of ways: date, duration, relevance, rating, popularity and title. But YouTube is the dominant source for the video clips. Yahoo can sort only according to format and video length.

Thus, the first result for a search on "Republican debates" returns a clip of Bill Maher and Bill O'Reilly that is several years old -- neither relevant nor timely. But one advantage of Yahoo's search is the ability to narrow results to only Yahoo Video, clips from other sites, or both.

Yahoo's new Search Assist is a strong feature and one that could save minutes off of everyday searches because the suggestions tend to be highly relevant. Google's search power is undeniable, but finding relevant keywords that will in turn bring back the right results is left entirely up to you.

Yahoo's multimedia search capabilities, especially audio, are impressive, but the ability to sort video clips by date and relevancy is needed. And Yahoo lacks Google's blog search. Yahoo may be back in the search game, but don't expect to hear anyone say, "Yahoo it" anytime soon.