Who has the time to painstakingly enter each letter of a word in an online search field only to discover it’s not the website you had in mind? Well, Yahoo figures today’s time-strapped surfers are much too busy, which is why the Internet giant has unveiled Search Direct.

Essentially, Search Direct works by delivering answers and direct access to websites before an individual completes a query, hits the search button, or goes to a search results page, thereby expediting the time it takes consumers to find information on the Web. 

“With today’s launch, direct answers – not the search results page – is the primary focus. We are redefining the search process and prominently displaying direct answers where search decisions are being made,” said Shashi Seth, senior vice president, Yahoo! Search and Marketplaces, in a statement. “Search Direct is evidence of Yahoo! continuing to lead innovation in search, enabling people to take action faster, find what is most important, and sample what is possible with the next stage of search technology.”  

Search Direct is currently in beta to Yahoo users across the U.S., and will be available in other Yahoo products and markets later this year.

The service closely resembles Google’s Instant Previews, which the company unveiled last November. As reported by TechZone360.com, Instant Previews provides a graphic overview of a search result and highlights the most relevant sections, making finding the right page as quick and easy as flipping through a magazine. To use it, surfers need only click once on the magnifying glass next to the title of any search result and a visual snapshot of the page will appear on the right. From there, users can hover their cursors over any other result to see a preview.

Instant Previews works for Google Web searches, as well as searches for news, video and local businesses.