Yahoo to Unveil New Search Engine

Yahoo Inc. plans to roll out a rebuilt search engine today in a bid to supplant business partner Google as the most popular way to find things on the Internet.

Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo’s engine will combine results licensed from Google’s index with information drawn from Yahoo’s potpourri of customized services spanning sports, driving directions and weather reports.

Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., refused to comment on Yahoo’s new search engine.

Many of the cosmetic changes on Yahoo’s engine appear to have been inspired by Google.

Yahoo has played a vital role in Google’s rise. After encouraging Google to create its search engine, Yahoo raised the start-up’s profile nearly three years ago by licensing Google’s software to run the searches on its popular online portal.

Although Yahoo continues to use Google’s search tools and even owns a stake in it, the relationship between the two companies has been fraying.

Google’s site handles an average of 112 million daily searches, based on estimates compiled by Search Engine Watch. Yahoo handles about 42 million daily searches, with Google’s software generating most of the results.

Including the search requests that it processes for Yahoo and other partners, Google says it handles 250 million requests a day.