SharePoint Search is very powerful, but in most cases it does take a skilled consultant or developer to unlock the potential of this feature in SharePoint.
I’ve seen a number of interesting examples, but one that really sticks out is on http://www.starbucks.com. Here you can search for the nearest Starbucks coffee bar based on location and the results are integrated into Microsoft Live Earth. I was a bit suprised when a colleague at Microsoft showcased this and afterward mentioned that it is using SharePoint. Go and have a look, it’s well worth it and really broadens the horizon for the application of SharePoint Search not only in the enterprise, but also on externally facing websites.
Another great article that I came across while reading up a bit more on search was this one from Robert Mclean on the SADEV website. Here he gives a broad overview of Faceted and Federated search and also touches on an interesting development addition which allows for better SharePoint Search usage amongst users. The article can be found here – http://www.sadev.co.za/node/262.
