Posted on by Dave J.

Is vertical search emerging? Or oozing?

An anonymous reader alerted me to a new white paper on the future of vertical search:

“The Emerging Opportunity in Vertical Search” (your pick: register-first or direct to the PDF) by SearchChannel & Slack Barshinger.

The paper starts with survey results, building up the case for vertical search, which SearchChannel sells software to enable. That’s right, you can start your own vertical site by just buying some software. The paper probably would serve as good content for a business plan so you could afford the software, too. What it ignores is actual usage of vertical search.

The paper cites another white paper ($395) by Outsell that showed a 32% ‘failure rate’ of vertical/industry searches on general search engines. Then we get a table of information that users want that they can’t get/find, in this order:

  1. Competitor info
  2. Market info
  3. Salaries
  4. Pricing
  5. Private company info
  6. Product info
  7. Training, 8. databases, and 9. industry reports

Well, no wonder 32% of searches fail! Even a vertical search site isn’t going to have the top 4-5 items here. Maybe providing this info would be the addictive crack that would make vertical search successful, but the paper doesn’t address this list.

The second section of the white paper is a site-by-site review of major vertical search sites. These are more summaries than reviews, and the list is by no means comprehensive or weighted by importance.

B2Blog’s take:
This is a great introduction to Vertical Search as a distinct segment, but it doesn’t make a compelling case for usage/growth of the segment, which is what it’s title promises. And it doesn’t address the roadblocks to success. The list I provided above is probably the most valuable content worth pondering.

My take: as (mostly mediocre) vertical search sites continue proliferate, users are only going to be jaded and continue to return to Google et. al. Until one comes along with ‘crack content’, that is.

10 Replies to “Is vertical search emerging? Or oozing?”

  1. I think that vertical search works for some areas. I specialize in industrial SEO, and know the effectiveness of ThomasNet (and the success) and know that it’s not going anywhere.

    Just like Google didn’t become successful out of thin air, a vertical search engine will have to really understand their audience and give them the tools necessary to make it a good experience.

  2. I think that vertical search works for some areas. I specialize in industrial SEO, and know the effectiveness of ThomasNet (and the success) and know that it’s not going anywhere. Just like Google didn’t become successful out of thin air, a vertical search engine will have to really understand their audience and give them the tools necessary to make it a good experience.

  5. The number of industrial verticals keeps increasing which is a true sign of a shake out coming in that marketplace in the next few years or sooner. You may even see some competitors in that marketplace forming partnerships that enable them to more effectively compete with major search engines, and the top usage vertical directories.

    But, usage doesn’t always translate into revenue unless you are monetized like SourceTool.com. Competition for limited advertising/marketing budgets is getting fierce. Something has got to give.

    Only Google, Yahoo, etc. have the resources to provide the “crack content”.

  6. The number of industrial verticals keeps increasing which is a true sign of a shake out coming in that marketplace in the next few years or sooner. You may even see some competitors in that marketplace forming partnerships that enable them to more effectively compete with major search engines, and the top usage vertical directories. But, usage doesn’t always translate into revenue unless you are monetized like SourceTool.com. Competition for limited advertising/marketing budgets is getting fierce. Something has got to give.Only Google, Yahoo, etc. have the resources to provide the “crack content”.

  7. Partnerships in any competitive marketplace make sense as the two combined are stronger than each one alone, like ABC News and Yahoo.

    “Yahoo News is the most popular news site on the Internet, according to Nielsen//NetRatings data for the week ending November 26, averaging 10.3 million unique visitors.” ABC News gets more exposure, and Yahoo News is able to compete with Google News more effectively.
    http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061213/tv_nm/abcyahoo_dc_1

  8. Partnerships in any competitive marketplace make sense as the two combined are stronger than each one alone, like ABC News and Yahoo.”Yahoo News is the most popular news site on the Internet, according to Nielsen//NetRatings data for the week ending November 26, averaging 10.3 million unique visitors.” ABC News gets more exposure, and Yahoo News is able to compete with Google News more effectively.http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061213/tv_nm/abcyahoo_dc_1

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