Recently, I wrote about Yahoo!’s widely-publicized potential tie-up with Microsoft. But its business as usual at Yahoo, despite all the juicy speculative talk over partnerships and recent layoffs.

The Gartner Blog’s Allen Weiner reported that, as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to showcase its search differentiation, Yahoo! has unveiled an “open search platform,” which gives publishers the ability to customize their results as they appear in search engine results pages (SERPs).

For example, a publisher such as Conde Nast (used in Yahoo!’s analyst presentation) can add photos, links, maps and so on to a search result, Weiner wrote. A consumer searching on cheesecake would see the result from Conde Nast stand out from the pack, with a photo and links to recipes and videos.

According to Yahoo!, these customized results will in no way affect algorithmic results (in terms of page rankings). Which, in other words, means that a customized result will not inherently elevate rankings, yet you they figure that a more visually appealing result on a page will get more clicks. Indirectly, Weiner says, the message is: Customize or wind up below the fold.

Yet the open search platform leaves some questions unresolved.  It’s not abundantly clear the degree of difficulty in creating these customized search results Weiner writes. If the ability to create a standout customized result is as simple as using Microsoft’s Popfly mashup tool, then it puts all publishers on a level playing field. On the other hand, if this task requires more-advanced development skills to create something elegant, the open platform grossly favors those with more technology resources.

In addition, search results pages containing such customized results could result in a confusing experience for the consumer. SERPs with a mix of customized and noncustomized results look somewhat lopsided. True, there is some modest innovation here, but, really, it makes one wonder whether Yahoo!’s announcement is more to show the world it’s alive and kicking, rather than showcase a bold step forward in search. In the meantime, the ‘cheesecake’ looks enticing!