Skip to main content

Yahoo! Search Direct offers real-time ‘as you type’ search updates

yahoo-thumbAh, Google Instant. Search updates in real time as you type! Now Yahoo! users in the United States have access to the same sort of functionality thanks to the search engine’s newly introduced Search Direct feature.

The company issued a press release announcing the launch of the new feature, which seeks to speed up the process of finding content on the web by offering possible search terms link returns that update in real time as your fingers type out what you’re looking for. While Google‘s similar offering simply updates a full page of search results, Search Direct instead populates a pop-up box with 10 suggested search terms and 3 suggested links. The feature rolls out in its beta form for U.S. users today, though Yahoo! notes in the press release that the intention is to have it available “in other Yahoo! products and markets” before the end of this year.

Recommended Videos

There seems to be a little bit of a quirk with how Search Direct works, however. The results it spits back at you tend to be a little heavy on the Yahoo! content. Any search containing a word that has ties to one of the company’s services will breed results that promote the Yahoo! content ahead of everything else. As Engadget rather hilariously notes, there are only five letters in an alphabet you can begin a search with that won’t immediately return a Yahoo!-specific result:

I = iTunes
J = Jennifer Lopez
Q = QVC
X = Xbox 360
Z = Zsa Zsa Gabor

Don’t judge too harshly; remember, this is still the beta phase of Search Direct’s rollout. The feature will presumably be tweaked moving forward to offer more useful search returns, since that is the reason for its existence to begin with. The Yahoo! press release lays out Search Direct’s various features in friendly bullet-points, which you can take a look at below. Alternatively, you can just go ahead and try the service out for yourself (assuming you’re in the U.S.) at search.yahoo.com.

Trending Searches – The moment the cursor hits the search box, top search trends appear and are updated every 10 minutes to display the latest and greatest search trends.

Search Previews – Search Direct predicts the search term as you type, providing the 10 most likely searches. You can then easily scan each option to see the related top results and find the best match for your needs.

Direct Answers – For many common searches, Search Direct provides instant answers before you click the Search button. Find an address or phone number, a three-day weather forecast, financial stock performance, the top trending stories at Yahoo! News, or when and where a movie is playing – all without going to a results page.

Direct Results – When you scan the search options and find the site you need, Search Direct provides exactly that – direct access to the site. No more overwhelming pages of links.

Rich Content – For all top searches about sports, top news stories, and finance, Search Direct displays rich content that only the world’s largest digital media company can provide. For example, type “n” to get the Yahoo! News display, which always shows the top two trending stories.

Adam Rosenberg
Former Gaming/Movies Editor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
The new Reachy Mini robot can let kids turn play into innovation
The Reachy Mini robot.

The Reachy Mini is an exciting new desktop robot aimed primarily at developers, educators, students, and enthusiasts, or basically anyone interested in creative coding.

There are actually two of them -- Reachy Mini Lite ($299) and Reachy Mini Wireless ($449) -- and both were developed by the prominent AI platform Hugging Face following its recent acquisition of Pollen Robotics. 

Read more
If you’re itching for an HP OMEN MAX gaming laptop, this deal will save you $500
The HP Omen Max gaming laptop with Valorant on the screen.

We've recently published a stunningly positive review of the HP OMEN Max 16. It's got a list of "Pros" a mile long. The single, obligatory con is "Thick and heavy." Considering that it's a gaming laptop, that's practically the equivalent of saying a flashlight is too bright to look at. Thick, and a bit heavy, just comes with the territory. All of this is to say that the review was great and we're fans of the HP OMEN Max 16. As a deal hunter it made me want to go and see if I could find a deal on the HP OMEN Max 16 and I did, sort of. Right now you can get a customizable HP OMEN Max 16t — a laptop that, if it didn't have a separate store page, I would think is identical to the one we reviewed — with a $500 discount, no matter what settings you choose. With the base settings of the laptop, that discount brings it from $2,100 to just $1,600, but you're free to upgrade to your heart's content. Tap the button below to start customizing to your whimsy or keep reading for some advice on how to do so and what to expect from the 16t.

Buy Now

Read more
Google’s AI agent ‘Big Sleep’ just stopped a cyberattack before it started
Sundar Pichai

Google's AI agent, dubbed Big Sleep, has achieved a cybersecurity milestone by detecting and blocking an imminent exploit in the wild—marking the first time an AI has proactively foiled a cyber threat. Developed by Google DeepMind and Project Zero, Big Sleep identified a critical vulnerability in SQLite (CVE-2025-6965), an open-source database engine, that was on the verge of being exploited by malicious actors, allowing Google to patch it before damage occurred. “We believe this is the first time an AI agent has been used to directly foil efforts to exploit a vulnerability in the wild,” the company said.

Why it matters: As cyberattacks surge—costing businesses trillions annually—this breakthrough shifts defense from reactive patching to AI-driven prediction and prevention. It gives security teams a powerful new tool to stay ahead of hackers, potentially saving devices and data worldwide. CEO Sundar Pichai called it "a first for an AI agent—definitely not the last" according to Live Mint.

Read more