Yahoo makes RSS feeds simpler

If you use RSS feeds (RSS means really simple syndication), Yahoo Search has added the feature of providing an updated report on any given search term. RSS feeds help you get short and topic-specific updates on either a Web page or a specific topic.

The new Yahoo Search feature gives you a simple one-step process for collecting an RSS feed right off the Yahoo search page. We haven’t seen this anywhere else yet. (An RSS feed is a short regular Web message informing you of changes to a blog or Web site.)

Say you wanted an RSS feed to update you on Web pages related to the phrase “Larry Craig Idaho Senate” or “Spokane mayoral campaign.” Using the Firefox or the Opera browser and heading to search.yahoo.com, those search phrases produce not only the usual top 10 ranked results; they also give you the option of adding an RSS feed.

That RSS option shows up in the address bar, with an RSS orange icon. That indicates that clicking it will add the RSS feed to your preferred feed reader. The address bar is the space in the browser where one enters the site URL.

An RSS feed reader is freely available Web software (such as Bloglines) that goes out periodically and gathers the latest RSS feed results for any number of sites. In this case, Bloglines will then update you as often as you choose on the newest Web results for those two searches. They can be sent by e-mail, or you can simply use a small widget to find those updates.

This feature is not yet available with Microsoft’s browser, Internet Explorer.