BOSS (Build your Own Search Service) is Yahoo!’s open search web services platform. The goal of BOSS is simple: to foster innovation in the search industry. Developers, start-ups, and large Internet companies can use BOSS to build and launch web-scale search products that utilize the entire Yahoo! Search index. BOSS gives you access to Yahoo!’s investments in crawling and indexing, ranking and relevancy algorithms, and powerful infrastructure. By combining your unique assets and ideas with our search technology assets, BOSS is a platform for the next generation of search innovation, serving hundreds of millions of users across the Web.
How Do I Get Started?
- Check out BOSS specs and mash-up examples below
- Review the documentation
- Get a BOSS Application ID
About the API
Overview
Search APIs are nothing new, but typically they’ve included rate limits, strict terms of service regarding the re-ordering and presentation of results, and provided little or no opportunity for monetization. These constraints have limited the innovation and commercial viability of new search solutions.
BOSS (Build your Own Search Service) is different – it’s a truly open API with as few rules and limitations as possible. With BOSS, developers and start-ups now have the technology and infrastructure to build next generation search solutions that can compete head-to-head with the principals in the search industry. BOSS will grow and evolve with a focus on providing additional functionality, tools, and data for developers.
| Previously Available with Yahoo! Search API | Available with BOSS | |
|---|---|---|
| Queries Per Day | 5,000 | Unlimited* |
| No Restrictions on Presentation |  |
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| Re-Ordering Allowed | |
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| Blending of Proprietary and Yahoo! Search Content Allowed | |
|
| Monetization | |
Coming Soon! |
| White-Label | Attribution Required | |
* BOSS offers developers unlimited daily queries, though Yahoo! reserves the right to limit unintended usage, such as automated querying by bots.
BOSS Screencast
BOSS developer Vik Singh walks through the basics of using the BOSS API and Mashup Framework, including two live examples.
Examples
hakia, a leading semantic search engine, uses Yahoo! Search BOSS to accelerate its semantic analysis of the Web by accessing the Yahoo! index’s vast amounts of web documents.
Me.dium combined the BOSS API with its insight into the real time surfing activity of the crowds to build a unique “Crowd-Powered” social search engine prototype.
Daylife To-Go is a new self-service, hosted publishing platform from Daylife. Anyone can use this platform to automatically generate 100% customizable pages and widgets. Daylife To-Go uses the BOSS API platform to power its Web search module.
Cluuz generates easier to understand search results through patent pending semantic cluster graphs, image extraction, and tag clouds. The Cluuz analysis is performed in real-time on results returned from BOSS API.
Revenue Sharing
In the near future, we will launch a monetization platform enabling Yahoo! and partners to jointly participate in the economics of BOSS-powered search products. Either Yahoo! sponsored search integration, with certain implementation and exclusivity requirements, or potentially a payment model, will be required above a specified query threshold.
Terms of Use
Use of this service is subject to the BOSS API Terms of Use.
Learn More
BOSS Mashup Framework
The BOSS Mashup Framework is an experimental python library that provides developers with tools for mashing up the BOSS API with other third-party data sources.
BOSS Custom
BOSS Custom is an invite-only program focused on building highly scalable next generation search products. This program is designed for consumer web businesses with unique assets (such as extensive user data or novel technologies) that want to develop truly innovative search products using Yahoo!’s core search technology.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have questions about what BOSS can and can’t do? Check out the FAQ for a quick overview of the basics.
Interested in Working on BOSS?
Passionate about building open platforms? Join Yahoo! and work one of the top priorities in Search. Email us here bossfeedback@yahoo-inc.com and please include “BOSS Jobs” in the subject line.
