Is the Wall Street Journal serious with this headline?...

Yahoo Wields New Tool to Battle Google

Unless Yahoo intends to bash Google with its hospital ventilator, I'm hard-pressed to think of a weapon the imperiled  Internet veteran could wield that might make a difference in its "battle" with Google. But according to the WSJ:

Yahoo Inc. will introduce a tool for Web developers Thursday that is designed to expand the scale of its struggling search business and help create new competitors to Google.

The company said the free tool will allow developers to build customized search services based on its own search technology -- paving the way for new entrants. Yahoo hopes the service will increase the number of searches done through its service and generate more advertising revenue, since sites that incorporate the tool will eventually run Yahoo search ads.

Right. Sounds like we got a real Google-killer on our hands. This should sway a lot of votes for the current Yahoo board of directors at the Aug. 1 annual meeting.