I don't think so. I'm not clear on the timeline exactly, but weren't they open to the public for some time before Yahoo licensed their technology?. I know I must have found out about Google in 99 or early 2000, because I was living by Akron U at the time. When did they partner with Yahoo?
Also if I remember correctly, when you searched on Yahoo for, say, poker, you saw whatever was in their directory first, and then any further results were from whoever their provider was (I want to say it was Inktomi before Google). Am I wrong about that?
I started using Google in the first half of 1998. When people talk about these things, I'm always shocked to learn how early to the party I appear to have been. It felt like it was already a big deal when I first saw it, maybe because it was so shocking to see that search wasn't as doomed as it had seemed to be.
I "discovered" google when a search on Yahoo that used to bring me to a certain site no longer returned on the front page. I saw "powered by google" rather than "powered by yahoo".
Also if I remember correctly, when you searched on Yahoo for, say, poker, you saw whatever was in their directory first, and then any further results were from whoever their provider was (I want to say it was Inktomi before Google). Am I wrong about that?