We report recent results in the search for the rare B meson decays B 2!?? and B° 2!?°?°. These results are based on 56.4 fb−1 collected by the BaBar Collaboration at the SLAC PEP-II ee− B Factory. We set new 90% confidence level upper limits?(B° 2!?°?)

Measurements and searches for rare B decays have been performed with the BaBar detector at the PEP-II ee− asymmetric B Factory, operating at the [Upsilon](4S) resonance. The authors report some recent branching fraction measurements on hadronic and radiative B decays, occurring from b --> s/d and b --> u transitions. Most of the results presented here are based on a data sample corresponding to a luminosity of 81.9 fb−1.

We present the results of searches for rare B meson decays. The measurements use all or part of a data sample of about 88 million[Upsilon](4S)[yields] B[bar B] decays collected between 1999 and 2002 with the BABAR detector at the PEP-II asymmetric energy B Factory at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. We study a variety of decays dominated by electromagnetic, electroweak and gluonic penguin transitions, and report measurements of branching fractions.

The PEP-II and KEK asymmetric B factories are providing the BaBar and BELLE collaborations large samples of B mesons, enabling high-statistics searches for rare B decays. The rates for some of these decays can be enhanced by contributions from new physics, while others can provide constraints on the Unitarity Triangle. The author reviews a variety of recent results on rare B decays from these two experiments.

The search for rare B decays and direct CF violation at BABAR is described. The following measurements (based on integrated luminosities ranging from 56.4 to 81.9 fb[sup -1]) are summarized: the inclusive branching fractions and direct CF asymmetries of B[sup+][yields] h[sup+]h[sup -]H[sup+] (h=[pi], K), the exclusive branching fractions of B[sup+][yields] K[sup+][pi][sup -][pi][sup+] (where significant signals are observed in the B[sup+][yields] K*[sup 0](892)[pi][sup+], B[sup+][yields] f[sub 0](98)K[sup+], B[sup+][yields][chi][sub c0]K[sup+], B[sup+][yields][bar D][sup 0][pi][sup+] and B[sup+][yields] higher K*[sup 0][pi][sup+] channels), the branching fractions of B[sup+][yields][rho][sup 0][rho][sup+] and B[sup+][yields][rho][sup 0] K*[sup+], and finally, the branching fractions, the longitudinal components, and the direct CF asymmetries in B[yields][phi]K*.

We present results from BaBar experiment for the measurement of inclusive and exclusive branching fractions of B mesons into final states containing J/[psi], [psi](2S) and [chi]c. The contributions of CP even and odd amplitudes in the decay B° 2!J/[psi]K*° are determined from an angular analysis. We report the measurements of the branching ratios B° 2!D* D*− and D* D*− K{sub S}°, and the study of exclusive two-body and quasi-two-body charmless decays. The branching fraction of the decay B° 2!K*°[gamma] has been determined and the corresponding CP asymmetry has been measured.

Recent BABAR and Belle results on rare B decays involving photons or lepton pairs are reviewed. New preliminary limits from both experiments for B[yields][rho][gamma] and B[sup 0][yields][Omega][gamma], and from BABAR for B[sup -][yields] K[sup -][nu][bar[nu]] and B[sup+][yields][tau][sup+][nu][sub[tau]] are presented. Also summarized from the past year are Belle measurements of B[yields] X[sub s][ell][sup+][ell][sup -] and B[sup 0][yields] K*[sub 2](1430)[sup 0][gamma], preliminary BABAR measurements of B[yields] X[sub s][gamma], and preliminary results from BABAR and Belle on B[yields] K[sup (*)][ell][sup+][ell][sup -]. No significant deviations from Standard Model predictions have yet been found.