The Yahoo Factor

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"The next phase might be that the phone knows who you are and you could find, using your phone, what you need, immediately. This would go far beyond a desktop search."

Yahoo is poised to capitalize on the mobile search capabilities, though for now, the search wars are all about the desktop.

In the competitive field of search services, Yahoo is gaining ground on its top competitors, according to a survey by Market Researcher Keynote. While Google, Yahoo and MSN were the top choices of the 2,000 consumers surveyed, Yahoo maintained the highest user loyalty, primarily because of its localized search.

All three companies are targeting local search moving into the future, but Google and Microsoft haven't yet found their groove.  

Simplicity is the key to all successful search engines. Yahoo and its competitors know getting users information fast and easily is the key to success with consumers who are not computer savvy about search.

"The key for users is that they know how to search," said Rheingold. "There is a definition of literacy involved -- in search engines you have to know how to pose a question -- if you dont know how to ask what you are looking for then the technology doesnt do it for you."

New software from Yahoo and others may cross this latest digital divide, making accessibility and ingenuity easy to come by whether youre using a desktop or mobilized search. Either way its a personal resource to help you find what you are looking -- via mobile or handheld computers or on your desktop.