Yahoo opens search engine to developers

Yahoo has launched a network giving developers access to the company's technology through web services-based APIs.

The interfaces allow application developers to create services that mix search results from an intranet with web search results or stories from Yahoo News. They can also use Yahoo's spelling correction technology to check online forms filled out by employees or customers.

Yahoo launched the APIs to "stimulate open discussion, experimentation and development of new search applications", said David Ku, director of engineering at Yahoo Search.

"We believe that it is critical to provide the development community with the search APIs and interactive resources to help foster the discovery of innovative applications leveraging Yahoo Search technology," he explained.

The open interfaces will appeal most to internal developers in the enterprise, according to Robert Lerner, a senior analyst with Current Analysis, because they use established open enterprise standards such as XML.

Lerner told vnunet.com that the market for consumer web search has reached saturation point and that "the enterprise is an important market that Yahoo, Google and MSN are trying to penetrate".

Yahoo is the first to open up its search technology to outside developers, thereby taking the lead in the battle for enterprise search customers, Lerner added.

"It is attracting a developer community," he said. "You will see how the developers are going to use it to solve certain business needs."

The analyst expects Yahoo to open up additional services once the company has attracted a large enough community.

In addition to the search APIs, Yahoo is also granting developers access to the Overture APIs, which were previously available only to high-volume advertisers. These interfaces allow users to analyse the performance of the keywords they have purchased.

In a related announcement, Yahoo revealed that it will change the name of its Overture pay-per-click subsidiary to Yahoo Search Marketing Solutions.