This means you can add your own search to your website and receive a set of results in a feed that you can format to display any way you like, for example to match your website’s look and feel.
Here’s an example of a simple implementation by LocalMouth.  This was done in (literally) a few minutes.  Read their blog here.

You can go even further, say you wanted to restrict your search to just one area, like Colorado, or even more specifically Boulder?  How about to a specific business sector, like for example electricians, or painters?  Well, our OpenSearch interface will allow you to do that too.

It works by firing a specially formatted URL, which contains your specific search terms, at our server.  Our server sends back an atom XML feed that you can chop up to present the data in the format you wish.  You can use entry fields on your webpage, or even a drop down list, to construct the search terms into that URL, so you can make it as specific or as open as you wish for your users.

If you want to start using our OpenSearch API see here for more details, and drop us a line if you need any help.

Local information website LocalMouth (www.localmouth.com) is the first website to use Brownbook.net’s OpenSearch API.  See how they’re using it to produce select listings of local companies here – http://www.localmouth.com/go/winchester/businesses