WebProNews

Yahoo News has recently added the company's Shortcuts technology to news stories. The Shortcuts provide a window into more information about timely news terms. Throughout Yahoo News, visitors may find jagged links in the stories they read. Clicking those Yahoo Shortcuts links brings up a new window on the page, with additional results of interest displayed there.

Someone clicking the word 'Baghdad' in a story would see an Ajax-powered window open, without reloading the page. The new window has tabs for Latest News, Web Search Results, and Maps available from Yahoo.

That window also contained an ad for eBay Motors at the bottom. I'm no car aficionado; that distinction goes to fellow writer Doug Caverly. But I'm pretty sure no one makes a car model called "Baghdad."

The News and Web Search Results are much more satisfying. News contains links to photos, video & audio content, and current headlines. Web Search also includes results from Yahoo Answers, the popular question and answer site Yahoo operates.

Ariel Seidman of Yahoo Search said on Yahoo's search blog that the use of Shortcuts on News follows their implementation on other Yahoo services. Mail, Finance, and Travel have Shortcuts functionality in place.

It looks as though Yahoo is taking its oneSearch concept for mobile devices and using that philosophy to drive the Shortcuts deployment. Yahoo has a lot of content available, and anything that makes it easier for users to find should be a welcome development.