Yahoo SearchMonkey gets Zagat, CitySearch
Yahoo has broadened use of its SearchMonkey technology to spruce up search results with specific information from Citysearch and Zagat, the company said Thursday.
SearchMonkey draws upon "semantic Web" information used to help computers better understand the data on Web sites. SearchMonkey can build that data, such as movie ratings or restaurant phone numbers, into the search results Yahoo presents. (See an example below.)
But SearchMonkey-enhancd results won't show unless a user turns on a specific application--or unless Yahoo turns on that application by default. Now it has with the applications from Zagat and Citysearch, so some search results can be framed with those companies' extra information about various businesses.
The move is part of the Yahoo Open Strategy. Yahoo announced the SearchMonkey move on its blog on Thursday.
A Yahoo search for 'Bacar San Francisco' shows Citysearch and Yelp results spruced up via Yahoo's SearchMonkey technology.
(Credit: CNET News)
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
