Search engines deliver personal results

"Search engines realise that different users have different needs. Some use search engines to buy a product or service while others use them for research," says Gallianno Cosme, Search Marketing Manager at Quirk eMarketing.

Yahoo! isn't the only engine that realises the importance of targeted search. MSN Search has something similar with their MSN Slider technology and Google has been testing their slider technology on the beta release of their Personalised Web Search.

"Online marketers need to tap into this trend so that their clients receive the right kind of targeted traffic," says Cosme. "Search engine traffic is important but conversion is paramount."

Search engines have taken personalised search one step further by encompassing it into our everyday lives. A good example is Yahoo! who recently released personalised movie recommendations. Similar to their gift finding service, users create a profile that the search engine uses to suggest new and old movies based on the user's individual movie preferences.