Yahoo launches upgraded search engine

Mumbai: Yahoo Inc. has unveiled a new internet search technology, which it claims to be superior than its existing product but still a "chip away" from rival and global search leader Google Inc.

The new Yahoo Search introduces features like ''Universal Search'', which automatically includes different content types in search results.

Results pages now include embedded videos, photos from Yahoo''s extensive `Flicker'' collection and customised results, such as those for celebrities, artists or news.

Yahoo''s new search service sports an attractive drop-down box called search assist that appears as user type, offering spelling fixes and search suggestions based on what''s being typed.

While Yahoo''s rivals already offer similar functions, Yahoo''s version is visually more appealing and smarter..

The upgrade will also use information from Yahoo''s calendar service, upcoming org, to highlight local events that are relevant to requests. The service also features information from Yahoo Answers, a popular web service where questions are posted for anyone to answer.

Meanwhile, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang has taken over from ousted chief executive Terry Semel, who had failed to eat into Google''s growth.