Hi, I'm using Google Custom Search (http://www.google.com/cse) on a client website. They are not very happy about rival companies showing up on sponsered links on their own site. I know we can use Google Site Search (http://www.google.com/sitesearch/ but it has an annual fee. I've been looking all around for a Free/OpenSource alternative for Google CSE, but found little I can use. Anyone have any suggestions?
Thank you
Check this question. What is a good search engine for embedding in a web site. IMO if the client dont want to pay for a search engine then they will have to live with the advertisements if they want a good search engine.
Google has a paid version of search. You can read about it here. We use it in our intranet.
Check out the Google JSON/AJAX Search API. It's a lightweight way of doing a query and returning pure search results that you can then display.
Search is very big business right now because it is relatively immature as an industry - similar to the OS industry many years ago. Anyone with something good is going to charge for it. The open source community will only catch up when the core concepts around search stabilize and become more widely understood (and therefore reproducible). Right now much of the basics are still trade secrets.
Short answer - if you want something even remotely as good as Google, expect to pay for it.
You can block your competitors just as with AdSense, "While AdSense allows you to filter ads by URLs, you can also filter URLs from your search results within your CSE account." - https://www.google.com/support/adsense/bin/answer.py?answer=91652