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Yahoo unveiled a new search engine technology Wednesday, and began phasing out services from Google, in a move likely to increase competition between the Internet giants.

The new algorithmic technology now being used on Yahoo Search will soon be rolled out among Yahoo's worldwide properties, with plans to introduce new customization and personalization features, the Sunnyvale, California, company says. As it incorporates the technology, Yahoo is casting aside search services from Google.

The launch comes one day after Google announced that its index of Internet items has surpassed six billion. Although Yahoo had been using Google's search technology for some time, over the last year the company has made it clear that it plans to become a leading player in the search market. It has since invested in its own technology and plunked down $235 million for search technology provider Inktomi and $1.63 billion for Overture Services.

In a commentary posted on the Search Engine Watch Web site, the site's associate editor Chris Sherman writes that it is surprising that Yahoo developed its own technology rather than using Inktomi's. The move would set in motion a new race for the search champion, he writes.

New Tools

Yahoo says that its new search technology is the beginning of a rapid succession of new search offerings. The company plans to integrate a new search service with My Yahoo that adds links to site syndication content in search results, for example. The service will allow users to add sites to their My Yahoo homepage and see updated headlines and links from those sites, Yahoo says.

Additionally, the company is using its antispam technology to help filter out redundant or irrelevant URLs and links, Yahoo says.

The new search technology is currently being used in Yahoo News Search and Yahoo Product Search and will soon be introduced on Yahoo Travel, Local, Personals, and HotJobs, the company says. Additionally, it will power search for Overture's algorithmic partners.

A spokesperson for Yahoo in the U.K. says that the new search technology would be rolled out in Europe over the next two weeks. However, for the time being, Yahoo's U.S. and European properties are still using Google to perform image searches, she says.

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