Danny Sullivan over at Search Engine Land thought it would be interesting to encourage his readers to try a different search engine one day a month so they could see what all the major search players were up to. Well, it looks like today’s our day.

Danny’s got a nice summary of some of the features that we’ve got here in Yahoo! Search. So if you’ve never used our search engine, give it a go. And if you’re a regular, well welcome back. After you’ve kicked the tires a bit, let us know what you think with a comment or two below.

Raj Gossain
Yahoo! Search

I visited the Search blog not too long ago to share in my summer vacation planning, and now that I’m back from my two-week European tour — Barcelona, Provence, French Riviera, and London — it’s time to think about my Christmas vacation plans. So, I thought I’d come back here to share my trip planning once again and show off the new Travel Destination Shortcut that’s making it even easier this time around. I’m thinking a beach getaway. So far my top choices are Phuket, Thailand and Acapulco, Mexico.

To help me decide between the two destinations, I started my research on Yahoo! Search. A single search for Phuket pulls up the below shortcut.

The beach looks so serene. Clicking through to the slideshow, there’s a number of pictures to view, including user-generated candid photos from the Flickr community. The mix of hotel and commercial photos along with individual’s personal experiences gives me a couple different perspectives on the location. I can just see myself sitting in those lounge chairs!

Switching gears a bit, I tried a search for Acapulco and got the following result.

I’m definitely tempted now. I wonder if Acapulco is better for the adventure seekers. Clicking on the top rated attraction — based on total ratings and user reviews written — the daring jump from a 110-foot cliff in Quebrada sounds intriguing. A bit scary, I’ll admit, but intriguing nonetheless. The user reviews included on each attraction also give me a better sense of whether I would like the destination or not. I mean, what better way to find out how a place measures up than by hearing from folks who’ve experienced it?

I definitely need to read up on reviews and activities before making my decision, but having the Travel Destination Shortcut makes the process that much easier.

With this release, we’ve got shortcuts for hundreds of the most popular and unique US and international destinations and we’re working to grow that into the thousands over time. So where do you want to take your next vacation — Paris, Hanoi or Sydney, perhaps? Start your research on Yahoo! Search and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Lingxian Ding
Yahoo! Search

We’ve been rolling out some changes to our fresh web data and crawling, indexing and ranking algorithms over the last few days. We expect the update will be completed by the weekend. So, as you know, throughout this process you may see some changes in ranking as well as some shuffling of the pages in the index.

Thanks for keeping the feedback coming.

Priyank Garg
Yahoo! Search

…A faster way to find what you’re looking for. Introducing Search Suggest on Yahoo.com.

It works like this: When you do a search on Yahoo!, you’ll automatically be given suggestions based on what you have typed – as you’re typing. So, not only does this limit the number of words you need to type into a query, it may also present similar queries to shorten your searching time and get to what you’re looking for quicker. Search Suggest isn’t new, just new to Yahoo.com. We launched this feature in the Yahoo! Toolbar in Firefox a while back and you can get it directly from the Firefox 2 search box when you select Yahoo! as your search engine.

Let’s say I’m trying to keep up with our illustrious “governator” here in California. I type “arnold s” in the search box and the suggestions pop up Arnold Schwarzenegger, which saves me from trying to spell out his last name. Or, I’m watching TV and wonder what song is in the background of a commercial that just came on. Problem is that I only remember part of the company name, “journey diamond”. I type it into our new search box, and “journey diamond jewelry commercial song” is suggested right away – problem solved. Of course, the assistance it provides when I attempt to find some new bicycle tires, “mavic ksyrium” just after the first few letters, “mavic k” is much appreciated. Not only does the feature eliminate my embarrassment of misspellings, it makes for a much more efficient search experience.

The nice thing about the suggestions is that they’re not obtrusive, so if you already know what you’re searching for, you can overlook the suggestions without them getting in your way. But, when you experience those brain dead moments like we all do, it’s the type of feature that just might get things moving again. If you don’t like change, you can turn it off altogether by simply selecting “disable” in the bottom right corner of the drop down menu. And, if you’re having regrets, you can reinstall it by selecting “more” above the search box.

Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments.

UPDATE: Thank you for all of your feedback. We appreciate you working with us and apologize for any annoyances you’ve experienced with the “disable” feature while we’ve been working on a fix. As noted in the comments below, the bug has been fixed, so you should be able to disable the Search Suggest feature without any problems. Please keep us informed if the problem persists.

Kevin Lee
Yahoo! Search

Occasionally, I’m a stickler for details. With Independence Day approaching, I thought it would be cool to recreate the first celebration. So, I made a list. Break free from Britain. Have a bonfire on my lawn. Clear my driveway for horse-drawn floats. Stock the feast rum, salted meat, fish, and more rum. Persuade New York to release all its debtors from prison.

Well, I don’t have a driveway, so I’m celebrating the new-fangled American way with picnics, parades and, naturally, pyrotechnics.

Enthusiasm for fireworks though, seems a little mixed and it’s not because the Fourth falls on a hump day this year. As we noted in our annual Buzz log nod to the Fourth, anticipation for the Fourth of July in the past six months has been 30% higher than in 2006. Yet, recent “fireworks” look-ups are a full 33% lower than last year.

However, tally up all those DIY queries for fireworks stores and specific sellers like phantom fireworks, and the numbers show that interest in our grand explosive tradition hasn’t necessarily fizzled out. Yes, guys still tend to be the primary pyros, driving six out of 10 searches. Not that I can prove it, but I suspect it’s the boys responsible for all the homemade fireworks searches.

The Buzz has also been tracking a surge for pies. For the most part, apple has been the filling of choice in Search… but we’ve had a last-minute upset. No, I dare not impugn the wholesome pomaceous fruit and its role in the most American of delicacies, but in the past week, key lime pie has squeezed past to get to the top of the pie heap. And yes, cherry pie is still staying strong in the mix.

As for the heart and soul of July Fourth, I’m happy to report that the patriotic spirit is alive and well. We’ve tracked searches that look into historical figures and places, clothing and tattoos, decorating the homestead and making crafts, and how to sing songs and recite poetry that shows our love of the motherland. Interestingly, public interest in the Patriot Act picked up noticeably in June. Curiosity and debate about Patriot Act summary, Patriot Act pros and cons and the like shows how Search has become part of the democratic process, and underscores how we the citizenry continue to involve ourselves in the workings of our republic.

However you choose to declare your independence, you won’t be alone. Happy Fourth of July.

Vera Chan
Senior Buzz Team Editor
Yahoo! Search