More search engine changes

It seems that MSN and Yahoo! aren't the only ones experimenting with their future looks. Reports are coming in that some people are seeing a new Google interface, perhaps a test case of things to come. I haven't gotten to see this one, but it sounds fairly standard in terms of offering a new layout and a couple of new features.

The Yahoo! divorce from Google is also a matter of more speculation. Whereas most people seem to feel that Yahoo! will dump Google quickly, others feel they will wait until after Google's IPO, while still others feel they won't dump them at all.

I can see the arguments in favor of any of these occurrences. Yahoo! owns only a small portion of Google, whereas they own Inktomi outright. Therefore, it makes sense to take advantage of the property they own rather than paying for someone else's property when you don't have to. Then again, 5% of Google's IPO might be pretty nice, especially if Yahoo! is still defaulting to Google, which might drive the value up even farther. Finally, Google is still regarded very highly for its search results, and Yahoo! presumably has gotten a positive response for using them.

Personally, I'd vote for option 1 or option 2. If I want Google results, I'll go to Google. If I'm on Yahoo!, I'd like a set of search results that are at least somewhat more selective, especially for businesses. I don't want product sites jumbled up with informational sites jumbled up with weblogs and then a fair sprinkling of old pages and odd, random matches.

But at this point in time, all bets are off.