In this post, Aidan Hijleh, out guest blogger from California, US, introduces us to Yahoo Axis, the latest browser cum search app from Yahoo. Axis was launched last month and has, since, got mixed reviews.

If you keep up with internet news, you are probably aware that Yahoo has fallen on some hard times. The company is struggling in many of the areas in which it once thrived, including search. Having said that, it appears to be committed to getting on the comeback trail, and innovative additions such as Yahoo Axis could be the key to its resurgence. Let’s take a look at what search marketers need to know about this interesting new technology.

Bringing Visualization to Search

Yahoo Axis is technology Yahoo has made available in the form of an iOS app and extension for popular browsers such as Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer. In a nutshell, it offers an easier way to find content online by adding a visual element to the search process. For example, instead of presenting the user with a page of text listings like Google or Bing, Axis serves up results in the form of thumbnails, which appear at the bottom of the screen. Users can explore the page by clicking on its associated thumbnail, or click on the arrows to the right and left of the page to explore more results.

iPad-Friendly Functionality

While Yahoo Axis is more than serviceable in its desktop form, the arena in which it truly shines is the tablet platform, particularly, on the iPad. The mobile app has an intuitive interface that comes off really well on the iPad’s large display. And thanks to its swipe-ability, users can easily browse through the results by simply tapping the buttons on the touchscreen. The benefit here is obviously the convenience and pleasure that comes with a hassle-free search experience. For now, only iPad and iPhone devices enjoy this functionality. Support for Android-based units is said to be coming in the near future.

Seamless Syncing

Yahoo Axis oozes sophistication and this is something that can be seen in aspects such as its seamless syncing capabilities. The technology saves activity such as recent searches and bookmarks, and then syncs it to the device of the user’s choice to prevent them from having to start over. So it is possible for someone to begin a search on their desktop PC, continue it on their iPhone, and finish up later on their iPad. In addition, Yahoo Axis allows the user to save their results to a folder, which can then be shared with friends via email and social networks such as Twitter and Pinterest.

Conclusion

All in all, Yahoo Axis is a nice addition that more than anything, brings a nice touch of simplicity to search. Of course, its overall value to search marketers will be determined by user adoption. So far so good on this front. Within a day of its initial release, Yahoo Axis found itself in the number-two slot for top free apps in Apple’s App Store.

Aidan Hijleh is a freelance copywriter and serves as the Non-Profit Partnership Liaison for Benchmark Email. Aidan advocates free email marketing services to assist the flourishing of grassroots organizations.

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