In July 2008, Yahoo opened up its core search index with a radical developer feature called Build Your Own Search Service or BOSS. The proposed search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo has some BOSS developers concerned about the future of the program. In a letter to the DOJ, someone calling himself “Phil” writes:
“Before Boss, tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars would be required to start a new search engine. In the year and a half since, tens, if not hundreds of companies and web developers have spent thousands of hours developing new websites, web applications and search engines using Yahoo Boss. By May 2009, Yahoo Boss was serving 30 million search queries a day…”
Clearly, Yahoo Boss is a unique program which has been the biggest catalyst in search engine innovation and competition in years… Shutting down Boss would by default mean shutting down all the websites using it, in addition to signifying the end to the aforementioned competition.
Since the letter was made public, a Yahoo team member has posted assurances that BOSS will continue.
