Yahoo lays out road map for BOSS

08.10.2010
Yahoo's platform, which lets external developers build custom search engines on top of the company's search infrastructure, will shift to a fee-based model in early 2011.

In its new version, BOSS (Build Your Own Search Service) , and , Yahoo said Friday.

BOSS, geared toward developers of all sizes, including individuals, startups and large companies, will provide access to general Web results, images and news articles, and its fees will be based on the type and number of queries from a search engine.

Yahoo will also make available a lower-priced BOSS version for academic institutions and nonprofit organizations. Developers will get access to a dashboard to check their usage and charges, which they'll be able to cover via credit card payments.

It remains to be seen how developers react to having to pay for access to BOSS.

"BOSS plans to provide full flexibility to blend, stack, and re-rank results. You know your users best, so we will give you the ability to display exactly what they need. We also aim to continue enhancing the BOSS offering by providing additional vertical search services in the future," wrote Rahul Hampole, a Yahoo senior product manager.