Yahoo Axis may be game changer for search and the troubled company

24.05.2012
With its new search/browser app Axis, Yahoo is trying to change the search game, while also trying to change its image as a .

Late in the day Wednesday, launched Axis, which it's calling a "search ." Axis is an HTML5-based browser app, as well as a browser plug-in, that delivers search results as images rather than as links.

The new product is aimed at making search faster and easier. Axis also makes searching more visual, an area where and 's Bing, the two major forces in the search world, are not focused.

The launch was a surprising move for a company that has not only been struggling to regain its once-prominent position in the Internet world but that also recently suffered the , which placed the company in an embarrassing spotlight.

"It's the first significant innovation, and sign of life, from Yahoo in many months," said Dan Olds, an analyst with The Gabriel Consulting Group. "If they can pick up some users, it could really help them move forward."

In the last month, Yahoo has been coping with a PR nightmare. Its new CEO, , who took over in January, was caught with erroneous academic information on his resume, as well as in documents that the company filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company to look into Thompson's background and the circumstances surrounding his hiring.