Yahoo major shift: BOSS “Build Your Own Search Service”. Yahoo positions its search engine for others to innovate or roll into their own products.

Yahoo is making this major shift in its battle to beat Google and Microsoft by giving its search to others.

“We want to disrupt the market,” Bill Michels, Yahoo’s senior director told InternetNews.com. “We see a lack of innovation in search experiences on the Web and BOSS is our method of breaking that down and opening up the market to innovation.”

“The thinking is it’s no longer our product and not necessarily indicative of how we do search,” Michels said. He added that Yahoo plans to continue to invest in its own search infrastructure and technology with its standard branding.

“Anyone can come in and build products off this,” Michels said. “There are no restrictions in how you present results or blend the rankings with your own custom content. Usually, search companies don’t let you mess with their rankings. This is unprecedented.”