Up to this point, there has not been an efficient means for answering that question. As a result, SEOs were hesitant to advise clients on the importance of Ask. Clay says search engines such as Google rose in popularity because “they embraced the SEO community.”

Since Microsoft and Yahoo reached a search agreement, Ask has, by default, moved up from the #4 search engine to the #3 search engine. Clay believes that upon the API release, SEOs will view Ask differently, which could potentially increase the search engine’s market share.

“The underdog always wins, unless the underdog is biting you,” said Clay.

Vice President of Value Added Services Dom Tolli wants Virgin’s four-point-six million customers to browse their preferred social-networking site. Virgin has access to an application program interface to satisfy the needs of many members. The API programs help developers create new functions to communicate with existing programs. E-Bay’s senior manager Adam Trachtenberg understands why businesses need to obtain third-party developers.

“Social networks have reached a point of maturity, and opening API’s will help them grow.”

eBay made software available for others to connect to its site, and web site owners post around 40 percent of its listings. Marketing Director Jeff Roberto opened Friendster up to its software around six months ago showing the visitors increased to 17-point-six percent or up to 18.8 million people.

“This is our biggest month-over-month growth since launch.”

Facebook, orkut, and Friendster verify making their software available to developers. Myspace declined to comment.