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Yahoo's Build Your Own Search Service
Posted by
kdawson
on Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:07 AM
from the meet-the-new-boss dept.
from the meet-the-new-boss dept.
ruphus13 and other readers alerted us to Yahoo's BOSS, Build your Own Search Service. It gives access to Yahoo's entire databases for Web, image, and news search with no cap on queries per day and no restrictions on mixing Yahoo's search results with others or re-sorting them, and without Yahoo branding visible. From their blog announcement: "As anyone who follows the search industry knows, the barriers to successfully building a high quality, web-scale search engine are incredibly high. Doing so requires hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in engineering, sciences and core infrastructure — from crawling and indexing technology to relevancy and machine learning algorithms, to stuff as mundane as data centers, servers and power. Because competing successfully in web search requires an investment of this scale, new players have effectively been prohibited from delivering credible alternatives to Yahoo! and Google. We believe the BOSS platform will begin to change that."
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BOSS? (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Sounds a lot like FOSS. I bet the confusion is intentional, probably a MS/Y! conspiracy to attack Open Source.
Ummm... No. As much as MS would like to see open source dead, this isn't part of it. First off, no one but F/OSS geeks even use the term FOSS, and none of us would confuse BOSS with FOSS. Now if it was something called like, Free Source or something, or something similar to Open Source like MS's Shared Source, it might be taken as an attack, this is just a slightly similar acronym.
Re:BOSS? (Score:4, Funny)
Real geeks use FLOSS. Duh ;-)
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Totally Boss! (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Totally Boss! (Score:5, Insightful)
It can do a lot of things, actually. One use, as you've noted, is to serve as what amounts to a source of free R&D.
But there are a lot of other things that can come out of this, too:
I think it's a great idea. It might open them up to some serious copyright challenges, but if it doesn't (or, preferably, if those challenges get tossed aside), it would be great to see all the search portals do something like this.
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Re:Totally Boss! (Score:4, Insightful)
"People who want more advanced search features (like regex support) can write it themselves"
I wish that were true, but this does not magically allow queries that their database does not support. What you get, according to TFA is re-rank, combine with other data, and remove Yahoo branding. It also allows news and image searches and unlimited queries. This is exactly like previous APIs, but with a few more freedoms.
Somebody is buying into the hype.
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
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Let's vote to get rid of expert exchange from all search listings.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm confused. Didn't Yahoo get their ass handed to them by a search engine that was created in a garage,
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm confused. Didn't Yahoo get their ass handed to them by a search engine that was created at Stanford University by PhD Computer Science students , whose creators only saw significant investment after that was concluded (because they had free access to University resources, like bandwidth, computers, and power)?
Re:Totally Boss! (Score:4, Interesting)
This in affect gives Yahoo and the local media players and far more effective search platform and a real market threat to google as well as of course that other major players in the search engine business.
This wider distribution of search engine services will also push search from the current marketing perceived foreground way into the back ground as simply a subsidiary service of any typical major web portal whilst simultaneously pushing local web portals into the foreground in local markets by them being able to offer globally effective search services on their site.
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So then... (Score:5, Funny)
And it's going to be called... (Score:5, Funny)
ChairSearch!
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Microsoft probably knew. (Score:4, Informative)
Then again, I doubt BOSS alone would save Yahoo anyway.
Re: (Score:2)
From the summary this seems to have a glaring drawback: it isn't Google. Yahoo search results are IMO quite inferior to Google's. Before Google I used infoseek, because it, too returned better results for me.
Google has let you use their search without restrictions almost since the beginning. When I had web sites I used Google for my site search, and a lot of big commercial sites do, too.
Why would you buy a Vega for the price of a Caddilac when the Caddilac gets better mileage?
It sure seems to have taken Yah
Re:Microsoft probably knew. (Score:5, Interesting)
And I thank Jerry Yang's ego very much for that.
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Re:Microsoft probably knew. (Score:5, Insightful)
The deal feel through because of Jerry Yang's ego. Taking the deal was the right thing to do for the shareholders and he didn't do it because he let his pride/ego get in the way.
Or he did it because he knew it was the wrong thing for Yahoo! and the wrong thing for shareholders who are interested in the long view. But hey - this horse has been worked before.
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Re:Microsoft probably knew. (Score:4, Interesting)
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No Way (Score:3, Interesting)
The shareholders of Yahoo are not there because they're tech visionaries or Yahoo loyalists. That's the point of the Icahn lawsuit. Some may be, but institutional investors hold the bulk of Y! shares that aren't held by corporate officers. Mutual funds, pension funds, etc.
These people hold Yahoo for one reason only: to earn a return on their investment.
Microsoft made an offer that was VERY generous. Not just measured on Y!'s latest performance: Microsoft offered a higher value than Yahoo's stock has seen in
Re:Microsoft probably knew. (Score:4, Interesting)
the right thing to do for the shareholders
That is an interesting choice of words. You are presenting this opinion as fact where I believe there is room for many other interpretations. There are a lot ways that taking the deal could have been the wrong thing to do.
It was only guaranteed to be the "right thing" if you define the "right thing" as "maximizing short term stock price gains". There are many other ways that the "right thing" could be defined where that deal may or may not have been better. Things like "Maintaining reasonable profit growth for the next 50 years." or even "Providing a work environment that reduces employee attrition". I'm not saying that MS is necessarily bad at these things but a CEO could definitely make a case that the company would be better served by staying independent.
I personally never invest in companies that have a history of making decisions where the "right thing" is defined as "maximizing short term stock price gains". When you do that you're not building anything you're just gambling.
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Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Oy Vey.
You are confusing things here. For example:
You start talking about shareholder value. Then you say this: "a CEO could definitely make a case that the company would be better served by staying independent."
This isn't about what would best serve the COMPANY.
It's about what would best serve the shareholders.
Period.
Yahoo has underperformed for years now. Yang has an obligation to the shareholders that made him a billionaire when he decided to go public.
It's not about "short term gains" it's about recoupi
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
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Long term health of companies is not important. Why do you think it is? What difference does it make if a company exists for 5 years, or 50? As weak companies fail, stronger ones grow from their ashes.
The only purpose of a corporoation is to make money. They're money making machines. They accept money as input into their machine, and the output should be EVEN MORE MONEY. If that is not the output, the machine is broken. Yahoo is broken. It is not producing value. Yahoo owes it to the people who paid to BUIL
Inktomi for the masses (Score:5, Interesting)
It will be really interesting to learn how all the Inktomi technology works and how it well it was integrated with Yahoo.
A little hard to believe (Score:5, Insightful)
I find it a little hard to believe that Yahoo, especially in their current state, actually wants to encourage even more competition against themselves. I think the real target here is more competition for Google, not for Yahoo, and Yahoo seems OK with giving away their own tech if it helps knock Google down a few notches.
Re:A little hard to believe (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:A little hard to believe (Score:4, Informative)
Which goes to highlight where the companies come from, and what the companies do. Google does search. Yahoo does a lot of other things, of which search is just one component, albeit a major one.
If you go to http://search.yahoo.com/ [yahoo.com] or http://ysearch.com/ [ysearch.com] then you get the same experience as going to google (classic).
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Re:A little hard to believe (Score:5, Insightful)
Which goes to highlight where the companies come from, and what the companies do. Google does search. Yahoo does a lot of other things, of which search is just one component, albeit a major one.
The same thing though could be said about Google, Google has maps, blogs, a social networking site, 2 video sites, and much more
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Most of which do not contribute to their bottom line, if at all. So you put in your frontpage the things that make you money, so google -> search. Yahoo -> search and other stuff.
If yahoo's frontpage were to be equivalent to ysearch.com, then they would be deliberately taking money away from their other business units which are making them money.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:A little hard to believe (Score:5, Informative)
That's because you go to Yahoo's portal page. Yahoo's search page [yahoo.com] is every bit as clean as Google's, and always has been. Meanwhile, Google's portal page [google.com] is every bit as busy as Yahoo's.
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Goog (Score:5, Informative)
Google already has this feature [google.com]. I wonder what the differances are. For example how come google didn't get a slashdot story when it launched its version?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Google already has this feature [google.com]
There, fixed it for you.
Re:Goog (Score:5, Informative)
From Google's CSE docs [google.com]:
Yahoo's BOSS allows you to retrieve raw results from their index, and then munge them as you see fit. Google does not allow you to tinker much with the results (just add/exclude sites), except maybe the presentation.
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Re: (Score:2)
You could use the SiteSearch [google.com]: you don't have to state you're using Google, but you do have to pay for it.
We use it on our $work site and since it's a business and we have over 5,000 pages, it's $500/year for access to the service and we get access to the XML data and can present it however we'd like.
Inertia (Score:4, Insightful)
Ballmer says... (Score:2)
Yoink!
Re: (Score:2)
And in another part of Redmond the furniture store is hiring chair salesmen.
Really Great Strategy (Score:5, Insightful)
This is one of the smartest moves I've seen Yahoo make. The key is that you are required to run Yahoo ads alongside the search results (when said ads become available).
So, if I'm creating a search for my website, I can go the Google route, embed an iframe and look amateur or go with Yahoo and look professional and completely integrated.
Not only that, but there are a lot of niche markets that big players can't go after that add up to a lot. As someone who programs for those type of sites, Yahoo's BOSS is really appealing. Yahoo ups their ad revenue, I get access to world-class internet search.
It's all about increasing the number of ads served. The more people who choose BOSS, the more ads Yahoo serves and the more money Yahoo makes.
Re:Really Great Strategy (Score:4, Interesting)
As I read the announcement, running Yahoo ads is not a requirement. Running Yahoo ads will be a future option to those who want to use the ads as a profit stream, but it's up to the site owner to decide.
If you like, you could take your Yahoo search results ad-free and run Google ads next to them. That's why this announcement is so bold - there are basically no requirements or limits on using BOSS.
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Re: (Score:3, Informative)
and
What's in it for Yahoo? (Score:2)
They are not really in a position to give things away, what way do they plan to make money with this project?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
what way do they plan to make money with this project?
From advertizing. Yahoo will feed ads to the people who use their search services.
--
Science is the depolitization of economics
Return of the BOSS Key (Score:2)
Or at least, that is what they should have named their "BOSS Application ID".
poison pill (Score:2)
It's a relaunch of an old API with a new TOS (Score:5, Informative)
BOSS is not really new. Yahoo already had the Yahoo Search API [yahoo.com], which does essentially the same thing. BOSS is essentially the Yahoo Search API with different terms of service. In particular, BOSS will, in future, allow "monetization". BOSS also allows users to intersperse their own search results with Yahoo's and run ads.
Google used to have a SOAP-based API [google.com], but they stopped allowing new users in 2006. It didn't force the caller to display ads. There's still a Google search API [google.com], but it's tied to their widgets and has restrictive terms of service.
We support both with SiteTruth. Yahoo search API version [sitetruth.com] Google AJAX search version [sitetruth.com]. The interface code is quite different but the end results are similar.
It's not about technology. It's about what you're allowed to do with the data:
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
These are some of the limitations imposed by Google's API that are NOT applicable to BOSS:
"The API may be used only for services that are accessible to your end users without charge."
"You agree that you will not, and you will not permit your users or other third parties to: (a) modify or replace the text, images, or other content of the Google Search Results, including by (i) changing the order in which the Google Search Results appear, (ii) intermixing Search Results from sources other than Google, or (iii) intermixing other content such that it appears to be part of the Google Search Results; or (b) modify, replace or otherwise disable the functioning of links to Google or third party websites provided in the Google Search Results."
" incorporate Google Search Results as the primary content on your website or page; "
"You agree to include and display the "powered by Google" attribution adjacent to the Service search box."
"For all Search Results available through the Service, Google provides Google AJAX Search API attribution language (such as "clipped from Google - date" or such similar language as may be used from time to time). You agree to include this attribution, unmodified, adjacent to Search Results on your site."
Most importantly, BOSS can be completely under the covers, and allows you to MODIFY the results themselves as you see fit.
Ad-Revenue (Score:2, Interesting)
In the end, it is just a move to gain more ad-revenue.
From their Forum:
"Hi -
You can use Boss for mobile as long as it is a search product. Keep in mind though that in the future we will require Ads over a certain query volume a day. Mobile ads may not be available right away, so we'll have to figure that out.
Hope this helps.
-bill"
So basically if you do develop something that a lot of people love, and you receive a load of hits. You will start to see Yahoo adds Pop-Up.