Essential Yahoo Search Shortcuts from A to Z

Do you use Yahoo's Open Search Shortcuts? If not then you should check into it. This is one of the handiest hacks on the Web and I bet a lot of people don't tap into it.

Using Yahoo Open Search Shortcuts (OSS) you can turn Yahoo into the ultimate "one box" search tool. You won't need to go anywhere else to search your favorite sites - even Google or MSN Search. Using OSS any Yahoo search box - even one built into your browser - can become a tool that lets you directly query other sites. This is especially invaluable for PR professionals who every day have more sites we need to mine for insights.

Yahoo OSS lets you set up special trigger words that begin with an exclamation point. These tell Yahoo to execute a certain type of special search on the search term that follows the trigger word. For example you can set it up so that "!G (search term)" queries Google or "!digg (search term)" digs digg.

Yahoo provides a tool that makes setting these up rather easy, but I am going to save you time by listing my favorites here from A to Z. All you need to do is click on these links and Yahoo will ask you if you want to add these to your shortcuts. (You need to be logged into Yahoo first.)

!a - Ask.com

!b - Bloglines

!c - CNET News.com

!d - digg

!e - eBay

!f - Flickr Tags

!g - Google

!h - Help.com (tech assistance)

!i - Interactive Marketing Search

!j - The Wall Street Journal

!k - Google Books

!l - Linked In

!m - MSN

!n - Google News

!o - Odeo

!p - Google Images (p is for pics)

!q - Yahoo Answers (q is for question)

!r - Rollyo Searchrolls

!s - Search.com Metasearch

!t - Technorati

!u - University Search

!v - Google Video

!wp - Wikipedia

!x - del.icio.us (there's too many good d's so I use x)

!y - You Tube

!z - Dictionary (you try finding a good one for Z!)

Tags: yahoo, yahoosearch, searchshortcuts, lifehacks, google, msn, youtube, digg, del.icio.us