Even after a user selects a given result, by swiping downward, he or she can call the search results back up across the top of the screen without leaving the selected Web page.

Users who log in with a Yahoo, Google or Facebook ID can save searches across their various devices. Axis also comes as a plug-in for most browsers so users can also run it on the desktop. A menu option allows for sharing through email, Pinterest or Twitter. Yahoo will roll out Facebook sharing in the future, Batraski said.

Page previews could pose challenges of their own on the small screen of a smartphone. But Batraski indicated that the visual results mean fewer "back and forth" trips between the results listing and specific pages. When Batraski searched for "Adirondack chair plans," for example, he could quickly see which pages included actual plans.

"I never have to look at a title-abstract URL again. I can see what's behind it," he said.

Axis' search functionality is built with HTML5 and runs off Yahoo's "" platform, which blends elements of Javascript, SQL (structured query language) and HTML5.