Google on Tuesday announced the release of Google Custom Search Business Edition, a hosted search appliance that allows companies to utilize Google’s search technology on their Web sites sans advertisements for as little as $100 a month. Custom Search is aimed at businesses that want to improve their sites’ search functionality but don’t have a lot of extra cash lying around to do so. In other words, SMBs. 

According to the Google press release, companies can tailor Custom Search in a number of ways, including adding corporate logos and creating “sectional groupings” for search results that will help match a site’s “look and feel.” 

The Mountain View, Calif.-based search giant is actually giving away Google Custom Search to customers that don’t mind display ads accompanying search results. But either way, with either the free edition or the $100 offering, Custom Search looks like a quick and simple way for an SMB to improve its Web operations and, ultimately, its bottom line: The easier it is for customers to find the products they’re looking for, the more likely they’ll follow through on an online purchase. 

Speaking to eWeek, Nucleus Research analyst Rebecca Wettemann said Google Custom Search “enables the smaller site players who couldn’t afford an investment in a broader site management searching tool to really make their sites a lot more usable and customer-friendly.” 

With this latest offering, however, perhaps Google has wider ambitions than just helping SMBs improve their Web site search capabilities. Despite claims to the contrary, it is widely believed that Google hopes to one day rival Microsoft in the enterprise apps market. And if Google can lure SMBs in with Custom Search, making them Google Apps customers might be that much easier.