I've heard some innuendo that with Yahoo! Search transitioning certain back-end functions to Microsoft, we are no longer a "search engine." I find these comments amusing, but a little irresponsible. What it comes down to is that the search industry is not widely understood, so I'd like to take this opportunity to draw a few comparisons with other industries. When groundbreaking new technologies are developed (i.e. chips, cars, smart phones, etc.),