I have been unable to ignore the barrage of news stories concerning Yahoo lately. I feel like Yahoo is suddenly going to pounce and become a "really big deal" again. But is it too late? Am I the only one whose mind never turns toward Yahoo when I need to find something? Hello, I Google. I don't Yahoo. Maybe 5 years ago I'd use Yahoo... But anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's break it down a little bit:

1. Yahoo Music Unlimited - $5 a month? Are they insane?? Or have other subscription services been yanking our chains for the past year. Hmm...

2. Personalized Search - My Web is still in Beta, but it seems to have some promising features. It remembers things for you. That's good, because I often have no idea what I've been looking for after an hour of searching.

Yahoo's My Web lets people save, anotate and share Web pages they've found while searching or surfing. And using Yahoo's new toolbar, people can click a button to add any Web page to their personal search archive.[CNET]

3. Yahoo Messenger - This was personally shocking to me. This thing is freaking awesome. AIM really has nothing on this service, except for the fact that all your friends have AIM, and not Yahoo. ANIMATED GIF SMILEYS!

4. Maps - Still a ways to go on this one. Google has Satellite, a better interface, and craigslist integration.

5. They've been hiring... a lot - CNET.com senior editor Pat Houston, ex-AOL VP Shawn Hardin, Scott Moore from Microsoft, Larry Tesler from Amazon.com. Seems to me they're working on a more content based site, rather than just a portal.

It should be an interesting year for Yahoo. But I have a question for readers - How many of you actually use Yahoo on a regular basis? Would improvements in Yahoos offerings make you leave Google, or any other search engine? I'd love some feedback!