Yahoo! has announced that they’re opening up their Search Marketing APIs. They will have dedicated third-party partner services as well as free, open access to Yahoo!’s “Panama” advertising platform technology. Yahoo! expects that opening their Search Marketing APIs will drive further growth and innovation in digital advertising.

The new program is being called the Yahoo! Search Marketing Commercial API Program. Through the program, Yahoo! wants advertisers, developers and commercial partners including ad agencies and technology providers to build upon Yahoo!’s core search marketing technologies to enhance their existing business offerings or create brand new search marketing tools and applications.

Yahoo! is also providing a wide range of “value-added services” to help commercial partners gain greater insight into Yahoo!’s search marketing product roadmap and fully leverage Yahoo! Search Marketing’s APIs for clients.

The program consists of three levels of commercial partnership, including:

The Basic Level- Designed for small advertising agencies and early stage technology companies. Provides free access to the Panama platform and technical support, and leverages the Yahoo! commercial brand to develop and launch applications in the market.

The Advanced Level- Designed for fast growing technology companies and mid-size advertising agencies. Provides access to the Panama platform, dedicated technical account management support, service level commitments and listing in partner application directory.

The Elite Level Designed for leading technology companies and large advertising agencies. Enables these partners to leverage the Panama platform, resources and brand via regular business review, product council, roadmap coordination and joint marketing activities. Early participants in the Elite tier include Efficient Frontier, Omniture, SearchIgnite and The Search Agency.

Yahoo! Search Marketing’s Commercial API Program is immediately available to agencies, technology providers, search engine marketing firms and developers through the Yahoo! account management team or by going here.