Yahoo! Tweaks Search Tools

SAN FRANCISCO -- Yahoo!YHOO unveiled new technology that will allow third-party developers to re-rank and control the presentation of search results, but the move might come too late as the company tries to fend itself in a proxy battle.

Dubbed BOSS (Build your Own Search Service), developers will now be able to access Yahoo!'s search technology to index information and images from the Internet as they see fit.

Earlier this year, Yahoo! introduced SearchMonkey, which lets developers create enhanced search results. By moving in the direction of accessibility, the company is trying to narrow the lead now enjoyed by its main rival, GoogleGOOG, which controls about 60% of the search market vs. Yahoo!'s 17%. Microsoft'sMSFT MSN trails with only 13%, according to Nielsen Online.

"Today the search market is generally limited to three major search engines to drive innovation and growth," said Prabhakar Raghavan, chief strategist for Yahoo! Search. "BOSS opens up the playing field for developers and companies to disrupt the search market, become principals in search and build new Web search experiences that offer more choice for users."

But Yahoo!'s efforts to boost its search operations are unlikely to change the risk of the company losing its board at its annual shareholder meeting on Aug. 1. Financier Carl Icahn is seeking to oust the board with his own slate of candidates, and has already discussed both the possibility of selling Yahoo's search business and the company itself to MicrosoftMSFT.

On Jan. 31, Microsoft made an unsolicited bid to buy Yahoo! for $44.6 billion. Since then, it has raised the bid to $47.5 billion, withdrawn it and replaced it with an offer to buy Yahoo!'s search business for $1 billion, which Yahoo! has rejected.