May 12, 2008
Inquisitor acquired by Yahoo
Posted May. 12, ’08, 5:23 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Software
We’ve all been very distracted by the saga that is Microsoft’s attempt to buy Yahoo, but Yahoo actually made a move recently and purchased Inquisitor, the Safari search add-on (or hack, or whatever you feel is the proper term). You start typing and Inquisitor shows search results live right in Safari. Not only does it show the top hits, but allows you to search alternate engines as well.
The first thing to look for in a software product that changes hands is the changes that first go in. The most obvious change is that the whole affiliate link functionality is gone. Kaput. No more.
The other obvious and predictable change is that Yahoo is now the new default search engine. This change isn’t enforced and you can trivially change it back to Yahoo. What’s really interesting about this is that Yahoo is actually subverting Google’s stranglehold over Safari’s search bar. Apple makes some decent bank off those searches, as does Google (through the ads associate with those searches).
By introducing some functionality that users desire, Yahoo is cutting both companies out of the equation. They receive the searches. Their ads get more views and clicks. It’s a very smart business move. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get forgotten like Konfabulator.
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"This change isn’t enforced and you can trivially change it back to Yahoo"
Don't you mean Google?
Anyway, clever. I like Inquisitor.
I refuse to surf the web without this tool. Sure, it's just a search tool but it's spooky how often it finds exactly what you are looking for so much faster than if you'd used the normal Google/Yahoo! search. Heck, I even paid for a license back when it was shareware. I hope that Yahoo! keeps this application going but I'm hard pressed to think of what needs to change.