Yahoo Acquires Inquisitor, Spotlight-Like Safari Plug-in

Yahoo has announced the acquisition of Inquisitor, a Safari browser plug-in that provides useful as-you-type search suggestions to Mac users of the Apple browser. Inquisitor is similar to another technology powered by Yahoo, Search Assist, with a single difference: it is actually a browser plug-in that has to be downloaded and installed and is only compatible with Apple Safari, the Mac version. For those of you who don't know, Yahoo Search Assist is a special feature of the Yahoo Search engine, available to all users, which allows searchers to get live suggestions while typing the query in the search box.

Inquisitor works pretty much the same because it provides suggestions for users who type a query in the Safari search box. Or, to be more specific, it is similar to the Mac OS X search function, Spotlight, which provides as-you-type suggestions for any keyword you enter.

Although you may expect it, the acquisition of Inquisitor won't make the browser plug-in entirely focused on Yahoo Search. "The new version provides quick access to Yahoo! Search, however, existing users may still utilize their current default search engine or a different search engine entirely, such as a vertical alternative like Amazon or Flickr, if they prefer," Ariel Seidman, Director of Product Management, Yahoo! Search, explained.

It's interesting to note that Inquisitor will remain free, as David Watanabe, founder and developer of Inquisitor, wants to continue to improve the application despite the fact that the Sunnyvale-based company has acquired it. "It’s important to note that while I will continue to be the lead developer behind Inquisitor for Safari, I will not be joining Yahoo! as an employee," he explained on his blog.

If you're currently using a Mac and you'd like to download Inquisitor and use it with your Safari web browser, you can find the browser plug-in right on our Mac section using this link.

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