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Yahoo searches Web for job listings

Net giant is quietly testing a new job search engine on HotJobs that finds listings across the Web--not just from paid partners.

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer
Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.
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Elinor Mills
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Yahoo is quietly testing a new job search engine that finds not just job listings from paid partners and advertisers but also from across the Web.

"Wouldn't job search be a lot easier and faster if you could search jobs from across the Web through one easy-to-use Web site?" the site's "learn more" page asks. "Well now you can with the new Job Engine from Yahoo HotJobs...We've searched the Web, so you don't have to."

The new HotJobs site lists sponsored postings, featured results from paid listings, followed by job results from the Web. Yahoo's HotJobs site previously got its listings directly from employers and staffing agencies.

"We are testing the implementation of a new job search engine that enables job seekers to find jobs from across the Internet at HotJobs.com," Yahoo confirmed in a statement on Wednesday. "In addition to providing advertised job listings on the Yahoo HotJobs site, we are employing our leading search technology to crawl the Internet, offering job seekers listings from other employer and job-related Web sites."

The move highlights Yahoo's growing focus on a "full service" approach, as competition from search giants Google and Microsoft's MSN continues to heat up. Yahoo's strategy is to deliver as much of the Web as possible--from Web-based e-mail to job listings and online dating services--in hopes of garnering a larger audience.

"If there was ever any question that the big search engines (Yahoo, Google, MSN) were getting into the vertical search game for jobs, this is undeniable proof," blogger Joel Cheesman wrote in his Online Recruitment Blog, which first reported on the new Yahoo jobs site.

The new site also challenges rival online job search companies like Monster and CareerBuilder.com in addition to job listing aggregator sites like Indeed and SimplyHired.com.