Any press is good press, right?  Yahoo has probably been saying that a lot recently.  The last few weeks have seen the search company battered in the press with one bad news story after another.  But maybe the tides are already turning.  Yesterday we had some good news to report about Yahoo when it made Panama, it's new search marketing platform, live to the public.  And just when some of you were thinking Yahoo was down for the count, today saw another announcement that's bound to cause a lot of buzz around the internet:

Yahoo and IBM have released a new enterprise search solution to take on the Google Enterprise solutions head on.  The main difference, though, is that, unlike Google's enterprise offerings, Yahoo's are free.  Oh yeah… you heard me.  Free.

Before I continue, let me point out the main difference between the two products.  When you buy the Google Mini or the Google Search Appliance, you're buying hardware.  The Mini and Search Appliance are both stand-alone pieces of hardware that power Google's search software.  IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition, the enterprise search solution released today, is a software-only solution.  There is no hardware included.  That makes a pretty big difference when you're weighing options.

But let's say that your company, like most, already has hardware.  Maybe you even have a box somewhere that's hardly seeing any attention.  Or maybe you bought a new server for a project that never panned out.  Maybe you'd rather invest in another all-purpose server that could potentially do multiple tasks instead of a dedicated search server.  And some of you probably don't want to invest in any new hardware at all.

IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition might be just the solution for you.  Did I mention it was free?

Geared toward small and mid-sized business, IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition is a software solution that allows you to build a custom search experience for your company or for your website.  It can be customized to search corporate intranets or public websites.  It also has the added value of linkage to Yahoo's internet search, if so desired.  Your company can add one-click access to frequently-used applications, intranet areas, or web pages.

Before you decide to give IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition a try, check out the vital stats on what if offers and look at the technical requirements:

• No charge
• Three-click installation
• Yahoo! Search integration
• Indexes up to 500,000 documents
• Recognizes 200 file types and 30 languages
• Customizable synonym linking and acronym definitions
• Customizable featured links
• Customizable look and fee
• Customizable UI output
• Paid support available

It should be interesting to see how this product effects Google's enterprise business, if it does at all.  While similar in nature, the competing products are quite different.  I wanted to find someone who was using it so we could all try it out, but I guess the product is too new.  Yeah… I know… it WAS just announced this morning.  I'll keep an eye out for feedback and/or experiences with OmniFind Yahoo! Edition and let you know if anything of interest is said.

In the meantime, if you haven't tackled website or intranet search for yourself yet, this may just the product for you.  Even if the 500,000 document search limit is too small for your company, giving the IBM OmniFind Yahoo! Edition a spin might be an excellent opportunity to get your fingers wet in the enterprise search pool.