Do you Yahoo? If you can guess what people search for the most on Yahoo, you could win $10,000 on this GSN original Game Show that debuted on June 12, 2023. It's hosted by Tom Cavanagh, and based off of the board game "Weird Things Humans Search For" by Big Potato Games.
Two teams of three compete. In round 1, one team sees the start of a Yahoo search query, such as "What is the world's tallest _____", or "How many days until _____". The top five ways Yahoo users completed that question are then revealed. The first letter of each answer is given, with the length of the spaces indicating how long the word is; multi-word answers will have the first letter of each word listed. (Sounds a bit familiar?) Each result is worth a different amount of money; $100, $75, $50, $25, and $10. When an answer is picked, the next letter in the result is revealed. A correct guess wins the money and control passes to the next teammate, but an incorrect guess removes the player from the round. If all three guess wrong, control passes to the opposing team, who can pick one of the remaining answers to guess. Should a team clear the board, they win a $100 bonus (and get serenaded by the Yahoo yodel). The process is then repeated for the other team.
Round 2 is played exactly the same, only the amounts double to $200-$20, with a $200 bonus for clearing the board.
Round 3 is called Top Topics. Six categories are presented, each containing three results worth $75, $150, and $200. The trailing team picks three categories, and has 60 seconds to get as many answers as possible. As before, a letter appears after each guess; if a team member speaks out of turn, they get a 5 second penalty. The other team then plays the remaining three categories; whoever is in the lead after this round wins the game and keeps the money they've acquired.
100 episodes of Hey Yahoo were filmed. The first 52 episodes aired from June 12 to August 17, 2023. It returned on November 27, but was pulled from the schedule just two weeks later; it's currently unknown if the remaining 38 episodes will see the light of day.
Hey Tropes!
- All or Nothing: Only the winners get to keep their cash. Also applies to the bonus round; anything short of perfection doesn't win anything extra.
- The Announcer: One who goes uncredited, oddly enough. Similar to many modern GSN shows, to the voice.
- Bonus Round: Seven categories are presented, each with its top answer. The champion team picks one to start with, and they have 60 seconds to guess all seven answers. Letters appear after each guess, passing is allowed, and speaking out-of-turn incurs a five-second penalty. Getting all seven correct wins an additional $10,000.
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Pink team vs. blue team. In the first two rounds, the answers are written in the same color as whichever team is playing the category.
- Double the Dollars: Round 1 has values worth $100-$10, with an extra $100 for clearing the board, and round 2 doubles those amounts.
- Game Show Host: Tom Cavanagh, of Ed and The Flash fame.
- Opening Narration: "It's time to find out 'what's America searching for?' on Hey Yahoo! And here's your host, Tom Cavanagh!"
- Product Placement: From the Hey Yahoo! title, to making Yahoo searches the entire backbone of the game, to having the legendary Yahoo yodel sprinkled throughout... you won't need to Google which search engine sponsors this show.
- Timed Mission: Round 3 and the bonus round give you sixty seconds to complete the boards.
