Hot on the trails of the new homepage, Yahoo has just launched a new search results page to bring it up to date design-wise and also prepare for the Bing merger. But the changes aren't just cosmetic; Yahoo actually upgraded the search experience with some interesting features and design choices. The new search page has been in the works for a while now and some users have been testing it since August.

“The Yahoo! Search team is delighted to demonstrate our commitment to innovate in search technology and deliver an amazing user experience,” Larry Cornett, VP of consumer products, Yahoo Search, wrote. “Yahoo! has also just launched a number of major changes to our core products, which include a new Yahoo! homepage, improved Yahoo! Mail, high-quality video calling in Yahoo! Messenger."

"The new Yahoo! Search page design aligns the experience between our new homepage, mail, and the search results page. This delivers a dynamic, compelling, and integrated experience that better understands what you are looking for so you can get things done quickly on the Web.”

The first thing you'll notice is the color scheme and design elements meant to bring Search in line with the new homepage and other Yahoo properties which, besides the aesthetics reasons, do actually serve a purpose especially for a company that is trying to re-enforce its emphasis on the core components. But the biggest functional change is the new left sidebar, which can prove very useful in certain circumstances. Depending on the search, the sidebar will display additional information and resources from all manner of sources from Wikipedia to Facebook and Yahoo Travel.

Just bellow the suggested sites are several related search terms which Yahoo believes may be relevant to the user. In the same vein, the Search Assist bar, which pops up in an overlay just bellow the search bar, now includes “explore related concepts,” which lists several alternative searches. Finally, taking a page out of Bing's playbook, when searching for people Yahoo will also suggest their profiles from social networking sites like Facebook.