Yahoo India launches community-based search engine

Bangalore, Apr 26: Yahoo! India today introduced a free community-based Search Engine that let users ask questions and get answers from real people on any topic.

From home repairs to vacation spots, from consumer products to the best remedy for the common cold, Yahoo! Answers would provide straight forward and meaningful answers from real people on any topic.

Yahoo! India Answers was accessible from the front page of Yahoo! India www.yahoo.co.in or from the URL: http://in.answers.yahoo.com The Indian product would not only plug into the global platform operating on yahoo.com, but also allow for a full range of Indian content with categories like Local businesses and Indian taxation system. This would allow Yahoo! users in India to benefit from the collective wisdom of Yahoo's global community while addressing local requirements as well.

This service complements Yahoo's web search by providing another source for information based on real life experiences and opinions from people. You can call it ''Human Knowledge Search Engine.'' Any registered Yahoo! user could post a question on the Yahoo! Answers and let the other users provide the answers. To drive participation, the service operates on a system of points. Queries cost points, while voting on best answers and providing answers generates new points.

Yahoo! Answers also archives and categorizes users' questions and answers by topics which were searchable. It would screen the content and ensure that all abusive, defamatory or obscene content is removed from the website. The users also had the option to report posts which they feel were in appropriate.

At the launch of Yahoo! India Answers, Mr Neville Taraporewala, Director and General Manager, Yahoo! India, said, ''This is mining the knowledge of other people. It is different from standard forums or message boards or blogging sites. This allows us to tap into this entire community to provide a better search through people.

UNI