Can Vertical Search Prosper in the Age of Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft?

A panel of B2B media executives got together in New York City at the DeSilva+Phillips 2006 media dealmakers summit to tackle that very question.

According to Penton Media's VP of eMedia Strategy, Eric Shanfelt - “I would say that Google is a mile wide and a mile deep,” he further stated “Users are getting more sophisticated in searching and finding what they’re looking for. So as publishers we have to bring something online that is very unique and that Google doesn’t provide.”

Mitch Rouda, president of e-Media for Hanley Wood, pointed to eBuild.com, which serves the $150 billion home building products market, as a prime example of vertical search opportunities. “You have to take the full line of products and catalogs and aggregate all of the information into one standard, sortable database,” he said. “If we want to retain our audiences, we have to add value.”

http://www.btobonline.com/article.cms?articleId=26837

SideStep.com - Amazon.com Vertical Partnership

Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) announced the launch of a travel store powered by SideStep on their site.

Amazon users begin their travel search on the Amazon.com site and are served results by SideStep.

Smaller verticals can be very useful to these larger, more established names. The expertise and precise execution of vertical sector information can only improve the experience of the users of more generic sties.

Vertical Void

There are several vertical search sectors that appear to be sewn up. These include:

news
images
shopping
travel
health
real estate
jobs
dating
autos

Everything else seems to be up for grabs

General Search Prices Fall, But Vertical Search Should Increase

From a report by Fathom Online in Media Life Magazine:

"We anticipate big growth in the local and regional search areas. As advertisers target individual markets, and small advertisers adapt search as an alternative or supplement to Yellow Pages, localized search should accelerate. We also expect an increase in vertical search engines, where the audience and advertisers are more focused."

http://medialifemagazine.com/artman/publish/article_2485.asp