Remember Yahoo's SearchMonkey? Recently, Yahoo launched a tool for developers to create apps on Yahoo's open search platform.
Although it wasn't clearly indicated anywhere, a good soul tipped us that you can also preview these apps in the beta version of Yahoo's Search Gallery, located at gallery.search.yahoo.com. Apps currently on display include StumbleUpon, Flickr, Yahoo Search Video Player, HowStuffWorks enhanced search and 17 others.
If the entire concept of SearchMonkey has been blurry to you, these previews offer a good idea of what it's about: it gives companies the power to customize their search results via these mini-apps, for example by adding an embedded video player, extra contextual links, or the ability to act on an item (for example vote on a Stumbleupon link) directly in the search.
The idea definitely sounds exciting, although too many of these might be counter-productive; I'm sure many would prefer uniform search results over a bunch of widgety mini-apps on your search page. But, ultimately it's up to the user, and this is definitely an interesting addition to the search experience. Yahoo, with all its current problems, is trying to move forward through innovation; even if they burn out in the process, I congratulate them on the effort.
