Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel beaming over new ad platform

Yeah, Terry, we know all about Project Panama by now. We know that it's Yahoo! Inc.'s (NASDAQ:YHOO) attempt to get back in the web search market by creating (or duplicating) Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) system of ensuring the text ads placed next to web searches are relevant and affordable based on how popular they are.

Instead of Yahoo!'s "highest bidder wins" process of search it inherited with the Overture purchase years ago, Yahoo! has finally smartened up and has seen that customer relevancy wins hands down over advertisers' preferences.

So, when Yahoo! chief Terry Semel is "all smiles" due to Yahoo!'s new search system is, all I can say is that it's premature. Time will prove if Yahoo!'s new search platform works to the tune of Google's system, which is tremendously successful and was designed with, gasp, the customer in mind -- not the advertiser.

Now, I truly hope that Yahoo!'s Project Panama becomes a wild success and works as equally well as Google's search advertising system because we need another great player in this space. Competition is a great thing for any industry, and right now, Google's commanding lead scares some.

We probably won't know if Yahoo!'s long effort has paid off for the company for at least a few quarters. By then, Semel may be able to throw his proverbial hat in the air. Right now, however, it's still way too early to party.