Vertical Search
What is vertical search?
Vertical Search, part of a larger subgrouping known as “specialized” search, is a relatively new tier in the Internet search industry consisting of search engines that focus on specific businesses. While Google, Yahoo!, and the like will continue to dominate the online consumer search market, research analysts say myriad specialized search engines are emerging to address the particular information needs of niche audiences and professions.
Basically, vertical search is an oddly chosen phrase for specialized search tools. For example, instead of going to Google to look for a job, you would choose a specialized vertical search tool such as Indeed.com, LinkedIn.com, or SimplyHired.com. Your search results would come back more focused; instead of searching for that needle in a haystack, you would be looking for a much larger target.
Vertical Search tools have a few things going for them. Users can narrow their searches down much more effectively, as in my job example. Ads can be more targeted to searchers, making vertical search both lucrative and cost-effective, since click fraud would be at a minimum. And, because most of the vertical search tools are easy to use with simple, effective results returned, more searchers will tend to turn to them before a generalized search engine.
Local search is already a burgeoning subset, with Google Local and many newspapers offering this functionality (see www.wickedlocalsearch.com, for example). And in the topical genre, there is a host of travel search engines such as www.sidestep.com, www.kayak.com and www.travelzoo.com. This latter field, which comprises search engines designed to served the needs of businesses in specific industries, is still evolving as new technologies and innovative entrepreneurs create new opportunities.
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