Searchbutton to give up free service
They are Atomz' main competitor. I used their service on SciFan before I switched to SQL-based search. Here's what SearchButton sent me by e-mail:
"We've enhanced our line of site search and reporting solutions to better meet the needs of customers, provide greater value, and meet market expectations. Unfortunately, effective April 15, 2001, we will no longer offer a free service which directly affects your account.

Because your site has more than 250 pages, you qualify for Searchbutton Corporate, our premium solution! And, because we want you to continue as a customer, we'd like to offer you a special 10% discount! Read more:

Searchbutton Corporate is designed to meet the needs of larger, more specialized sites and for companies who have a large investment in web content. It is ideal for webmasters who require complete control over site search and includes:

-Advanced search activity and site performance reporting
-Daily indexing
-Support for alternative document formats (PDF, Excel, Word)
-Extensive customization options
-Personal account management
-Sub site search, CommunitySearch(tm), and SearchNames(tm)
-International language support and more!

Starting as low as $5000 per year, Searchbutton Corporate combines the very best site search capabilities with search activity reporting to give you a strategic Web advantage-a solution that drives results, increases customer satisfaction and helps you run your site more effectively.

You can choose to upgrade to our Corporate service (with a 10% discount) or discontinue your current service before April 15, 2001. Simply call me at 650-947-8334 to request an upgrade (don't forget to mention your 10% discount!) If you choose to discontinue service, just reply to this email with the word "discontinue" in the subject line. It's simple and convenient to do either.

Your site visitors (and your marketing, sales, and IT departments) will enjoy all the benefits that our premium services offer - we hope that you upgrade today and give it a try."

A whopping 10% discount to free users! Look like a steep climb to me. They probably want to drop the small fish.

12/04/01 update: I should mention here we have a whole blog for this kind of news.