Google has long had a special blog search feature; they have also had a link in the Google News search that allowed searchers to see results from blogs with articles on the news item searched for. It appears now that Yahoo! will also add a similar feature.
While it has not been released yet, Yahoo! News is planning a ‘Most Blogged’ section where you can see blogs that have articles or posts on the news item. This is good news for bloggers who like to report on the news.
In many sectors of the online community, blogs are seen as second class citizens. In reality, blogs are just as valuable as any other content currently online. Even newspapers have their own blogs these days; in fact some media outlets have encouraged each of their feature writers to publish a blog. Both Google and Yahoo! use blogs as a means of communicating new information to the world at large.
It makes sense to bring to the search public’s attention blogs that have posts related to what they are searching for. At present, unless you use blog search, you have to hunt for any blogs with relevant information.
Yahoo!’s planned feature will include snippets on the News search results page. If you are a blogger that likes to report on the news, this may be a bonus for you. WebProNews has a post on the new release together with screen shots. The concept looks good so hopefully Yahoo! will release it soon.
