Web pioneer Yahoo has announced a service that will allow Web site owners to create customized entries  within Yahoo's search engine results, detailing its Open Search Platform Tuesday at a technology conference. Yahoo said Web site owners can use the publisher program, which is not yet live, to add new types of information such as photos, addresses, related stories, reviews, contact information and ratings to the basic descriptions currently shown on Yahoo's search engine listings. The move is part of a series of Yahoo plans to better compete with search leader Google, and comes amidst Microsoft's continuing hostile bid to acquire the Sunnyvale, California-based firm. Publisher Feed System As part of the new service, Yahoo will provide Web publishers browser plug-ins, or application programming interfaces (APIs), to allow creation of the custom, more detailed search results, which will enable them to "build and present the next generation of search results," according to Vish Makhijani, Yahoo Search senior vice president and general manager, who announced the Open Search Platform Monday on the company's blog. Example screen shots below show what one Yahoo search engine result presently looks like, followed by how it might look when customized using the Open Search Platform:   A Multitude of Plug-Ins Yahoo users looking to see the custom search listings for all but the largest publisher Web sites will need to enable special plug-ins for each publisher, otherwise standard search listings will be shown. Yahoo said that it may combine several APIs from major publishers into a single plug-in, in order to make the service easier for consumers to enable. Yahoo said that some of the the details made available through its Open Search Platform could be shown in the search results for certain large publishers by default, including The New York Times and local business review site Yelp. When the service rolls out later this year, Yahoo expects to have plug-ins available for several large Web publishers, including business networking site LinkedIn and the CondéNet group of Web properties which includes WiredDigital, Reddit, Style.com and MagNet. Yahoo said the program will eventually be available for all Web site owners, even those with small sites. Link Order Will Remain Unchanged Yahoo said that participation in its Open Search Platform will not alter the position of a publisher's Web site, and also noted that it will not accept payment for improved positioning in publisher plug-in galleries or in promotions. Consumers can also choose not to use the new richer search results, Yahoo said in the blog statement. "Users will be in complete control of the experience and will be able to turn off anything related to open search if they so desire," Makhijani noted. Yahoo hopes the new service will "present users with richer, more useful  search results," he added, referring to search listings that will contain more than a basic site title, a brief snippet of text, and a site URL. "For the first time users will see rich results that incorporate the massive amount of data buried in websites - ratings and reviews, images, deep links, and all kinds of other useful data," Makhijani added. Google has a similar service in place, which it calls Subscribed Links, and the company's Matt Cutts, a software engineer, wrote about it Monday on his personal Web site. Web Publisher Information Combined With Yahoo Ranking System The Open Search Platform will send any additional information a publisher has added about a Web site on to Yahoo's search engine algorithm - which it calls "Machined Learned Ranking" - and adds and presents the new information to those Yahoo customers who have enabled that publisher's plug-in. The service is aimed at providing the type of customized search engine results that have been available using third-party extensions, such as the Greasemonkey add-on for the Firefox Web browser, giving rise to Yahoo's code name for its Open Search Platform: "SearchMonkey". Yahoo said the new service does not affect paid search listings. A Variety of Webmaster Reactions Members of the popular online discussion forums operated by WebmasterWorld, a community of mostly technically savvy webmasters and search engine marketing (SEM) professionals founded by chief executive Brett Tabke, reacted swiftly to Yahoo's Tuesday announcement. One WebmasterWorld member sees potential problems using questionable techniques to mislead consumers. "If they don't review and approve every listing, it may just turn into a spammers haven," the member, using the handle "maximillianos," noted. Those sentiments were echoed by another WebmasterWorld member who noted, "You are talking about a new level of search spam," and called the new Yahoo service plans a "bad move." Another saw the introduction of publisher-enhanced search listings as a sign of trouble at Yahoo. "I have never seen anything more pathetic in my life. [...] They are in serious trouble," noted a member using the handle "WiseWebDude." Others saw potential good in the new Yahoo service. "This is a positive move for everybody," noted a member using the handle "jtara," who sees giving webmasters some control over how Yahoo displays search results as a positive step. Yahoo Announces Open Search Platform When the new Yahoo service is put in place, its success may hinge on how useful consumers find the additional details that will be shown in search listings. Yahoo's Amit Kumar, the product lead for the Open Search Platform, was to speak about how the service works Tuesday in at a technology conference in Santa Clara, California. Yahoo also announced Yahoo Buzz, a community-based news article popularity Web site similar to Digg. Related Links:
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10:45 pm on Feb. 26, 2008 (utc 0)