Yahoo! Opens Wide (APIs Ahoy)

Yahoo is going the “Open” route like Facebook and probably in hopes for the hype and user increase that Facebook received. Unfortunately, I somehow doubt that they’ll come close. Either way, I applaud Yahoo! since I’m a big fan and this will definitely help. Especially since I use Yahoo! Mail, which they have already opened to developers. Also, see below for Yahoo!/Entrepreneurs post on 10 Search Engines You Don’t Know About (but you should use, depending on the case and cause)…

Yahoo’s Open Invitation (via Business Week)

This year, openness is the buzzword ringing through Yahoo’s Sunnyvale (Calif.) campus, and executives hope it translates into a strategy that helps set fortunes right. In the months since Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang replaced Terry Semel as chief executive officer, company leaders say they’re newly focused on opening Yahoo’s real estate to outside developers, who in turn can create tools that make Yahoo’s pages more attractive to users.

Yahoo’s focus on openness is partly a proactive embracing of the consumer Web ethos, where users play a key role in creating content. And in part it’s a defensive measure to keep from losing user attention to innovative up-and-comers.

10 Search Engines You Don’t Know About (Yahoo’s .biz Via Entrepreneur.com)

We’ve got some big news for you. Brace yourself. There are search options beyond Google–and we’re not talking about Yahoo! and MSN. Vertical search is on the rise, and whether you’re looking for business products, services or information, or a new place to advertise, vertical search sites can benefit your company. Market research firm Outsell predicts that the vertical search market will reach $1 billion by 2009. While Google gets around 65 percent of search traffic today, it doesn’t mean it’s always the best place for your search.

Of course Yahoo! snuck in a Yahoo! Local Search into the list, but some of the options are quite interesting: TopTenWholesale.com, ThomasNet.com, Zibb.com…