Addressing user's information needs has been one of the main goals of Web search engines since their early days. In some cases, users can’t see their needs immediately met by search results, simply because these needs are too complex and involve multiple aspects not covered by a single Web or search results page. We refer to these types of activities as “research missions.”

Search Pad is a feature of Yahoo! Search that was launched in July, 2009 and precisely addresses this issue. It helps users keep track of related searches and visited pages that relate to a same “research mission.”

What sets Yahoo! Search Pad apart from previous search solutions is that it relies largely on attention data to automatically collect research for the user. For example, if the user is using Yahoo! for searching a used car, SearchPad will automatically appear if it notices a user clicking a lot of related links or spending lots of time on pages related to cars. Links are automatically added to a search pad in such a manner that when a pad is prompted to a user, it is pre-populated with content. These features are the result of an intelligent and dynamic technology developed within Yahoo! .