Yahoo enters AI search race with Scout: How to use
What's the story
Yahoo has launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool, "Scout," to take on Google's AI Mode and other competitors like Perplexity and ChatGPT's real-time search feature. The company said the innovative tool leverages its unique data and user insights, along with over three decades of experience in search. The goal is to shift search results from links to direct answers while transforming search terms into natural language queries.
Information synthesis
Scout: A synthesis of web, Yahoo content, and user data
Scout is an AI-powered search engine that synthesizes information from the open web, Yahoo's own content, and user data to provide "clear, concise responses." The company claims its new engine is informed by 500 million user profiles and a knowledge graph spanning over one billion entities. This wealth of information allows Scout to deliver accurate answers to users' queries.
Versatile tool
Scout's capabilities and future plans
Scout can use Yahoo's owned and operated properties to help users with a range of tasks. These include understanding weather patterns before a vacation, getting details about an important game, tracking stock price movements after earnings, comparing products before buying, or fact-checking a news story. Jim Lanzone, CEO of Yahoo, said this beta launch is just the beginning. He added that from search to their industry-leading verticals, Yahoo Scout will help users accomplish their goals online faster than before.
Partnerships
Yahoo's strategic partnerships for Scout
Yahoo has partnered with Anthropic to use Claude as the primary foundational AI model for Scout. The company is also leveraging its long-standing relationship with Microsoft by using Bing's grounding API. This ensures that answers provided by Scout are backed by authoritative sources from the open web, enhancing the reliability of information users receive through this new tool.
Feature highlights
Yahoo Scout's shopping and finance features
Yahoo has also added a new shopping feature to Scout. It distills insights from expert articles and reviews to compare brands and products instantly, providing shoppable links without the need to open multiple tabs. The Yahoo Finance feature offers one-click access to real-time insights across company news, analyst ratings, financials, and earnings calls with headlines that refresh every 10 minutes.
Expansion plans
Yahoo Scout's availability and future expansion plans
Currently, Scout is available for users in the US. Interested users can access this new AI search experience by visiting Scout.Yahoo.com or through the Yahoo Search app on iOS and Android devices. Yahoo says that nearly 250 million users in the US have access to Scout, with plans to expand its capabilities and personalization features in the coming months.