Paid Search to Hit 10 Billion

New eMarketer forecast predicts 10Billion in paid search ad spending by 2010. The major drivers will be vertical search and local search.

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=112216

LinkedIn to Reach Profitability

LinkedIn plans on charging for services that range in price from $60 to $2,000 per year and expects to reach profitability this month.

LinkedIn now gives its members the option of having their LinkedIn profile listed by Internet search engines such as Google and Yahoo. "Search is becoming more vertical," Konstantin Guericke, VP of Marketing for LinkedIn said, adding that "people search" may be the next big vertical search category. Also, starting later this month, visitors to the site will be able to search for people on LinkedIn to find member profiles. To get details on what former bosses, co-workers or business partners say about someone, visitors will need to sign up for a free LinkedIn membership, he said.

http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/news/article.php/3589676
www.linkedin.com

Diller Sees the Future in Vertical Search

At the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo, the keynote was delivered by Barry Diller.

Barry Diller, CEO of IAC/Interactive Corp., had some possibly prescient comments on the future of search. Mr. Diller admits that with his revamped Ask.com (his once-faithful butler, Jeeves, was sent packing late last year) he has some way to go if he is going to seriously compete with the three leaders in search. Mr. Diller believes that vertical search is the way of the future and that traffic is directly related to the extent to which a search engine can provide local results.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1003855

The Convergence of Local and Vertical

Currently, local and vertical search lack a common structure and platform to bind them together in any meaningful manner. But soon, they will unite, sharing local business information as a common foundation. They'll be fueled by the aggregation of rich, structured, local business content.
Google and Yahoo are busy working on solutions. They are asking businesses to directly contribute information, they're buying data from vertical providers, and they're crawling and displaying data from authorities on the Web.

http://www.clickz.com/experts/search/local_search/article.php/3588611

Vertical Search at SES

Google, Yahoo and MSN representatives took part in the Pundits on Search panel during the SES 2006 New York show which was monitored by Danny Sullivan.

A question on vertical search found little belief of its potential impact on the established search engines. "I think vertical search engines are for specialized searches and I think they will continue to serve as such. I don't agree that vertical search engines will take away share from the general search engines," Jeremy Zawodny from Yahoo said.

Sullivan believes in vertical search as the next important area for marketers. There's something beyond being listed on Google web search, and the local search will eventually be the default, he said. He also thinks eventually the web results will be the backfill rather than the main. The local searches will supplant the web results seen today. Sullivan cited Google maps as an example of one service that is starting to fundamentally change how people search. To him, the definition of the "number one" result has already started to change and will further evolve.

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/topnews/wpn-60-20060228TheBeautifulPeopleOnSearch.html

Search Marketers Neglecting Alternative Engines

JupiterResearch revealed that 40% of search marketers are missing out by using Google and/or Yahoo exclusively for their campaigns.

"Even though search engine usage by marketers has broadened in the past couple of years, marketers are still slow to test the newer search providers," said Sapna Satagopan, Research Associate at JupiterResearch. "Lack of management tools and relatively low traffic volume are the biggest deterrents," added Satagopan.

"Vertical search providers will play an important role in the paid search market in the next five years," said Zia Wigder, Vice President and Research Director at JupiterResearch. "Search marketers must establish a robust management strategy and an efficient testing and inclusion process to profit from this growth," added Wigder.

http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2006/02/27/1409978.htm

TV Search Firm Gets $6.5M

MeeVee, a television search company, received 6.5M in funding, mostly from Labrador Ventures.

MeeVee, based in Burlingame, California, is a vertical search company focusing on television listings. Hoping to cash in on the interest in personalized entertainment, MeeVee promises its users a personalized TV guide. Unlike the one-dimensional pages of a TV guide, users get to see promotions and snippets of TV shows when they click on MeeVee’s listings.

This model is based on users finding it more difficult to find the programming they want with the hundreds of channels available today. With a vertical TV search, they hope that users can find specific content that interests them.

http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=15870&hed=TV+Search+Firm+Gets+%246.5M§or=Industries&subsector=EntertainmentAndMedia

Search Share to Decline in 2006

The "2006 Digital Media Outlook" report by Avenue A/Razorfish predicts search marketing to decline as a total percentage of online ad spend.

As advertisers increase their ad spend by 20 to 30 percent, search's share of the overall marketing spend may actually shrink as this money goes towards other advertising vehicles, including the portals, vertical sites, search, mobile, gaming, RSS and consumer-generated media.

http://www.clickz.com/news/article.php/3587661

Mesothelioma Search Engine

On the one-year anniversary of the launch of their Vioxx Search Engine (www.vioxx-search-engine.com), Nielsen Technical Services today announced the launch of their Mesothelioma Search Engine (www.mesothelioma-search-engine.com).

The company is indexing selected sites for those looking for more information such as patients, researchers, families, doctors, pharmacists, students, and those in the legal profession. This site is offered as a public service for those looking for information related to medical and legal information on mesothelioma lung cancer, or asbestos lung cancer for which there is no cure and is caused by exposure to asbestos fibers or asbestos dust.

http://www.pr.com/press-release/7249

Taking Vertical Search to the Sexes

iVilliage announced they are relaunching it's Women.com domain as Women.com, "Search for Women".

Originally, Women.com ran as a spinoff of iVilliage providing news, dating and beauty advice.

“We anticipate launching the new Search at the end of the second quarter 2006. Our objective with Search for Women is to enhance and further customize our users and advertisers experience by participating in the so-called vertical search marketplace…this new product will allow us to promote iVillage brand by blanketing the Internet with add campaign promoting Search for the Women’s Intuition.”

iVillage may soon be working with Eurekster, the social search sharing engine and that such a partnership targeted towards the vibrant female online community may indeed be a success.

www.ivilliage.com

Vertical Creep Into Regular Search Results

Greg Jarboe, President of SEO-PR and Gord Hotchkiss, President and CEO of Enquiro spoke at the recent Search Engine Strategies conference in NY hosted by Danny Sullivan.

“Vertical Creep Into Regular Search Results,” the opening session in the Vertical Search Track, looked at how being number one in the search results more and more means being listed in vertical search. Vertical is the new kid on the block, when it comes to the real estate of search results pages. Even if users don't choose to do a vertical search, there’s more chance than ever that search engines will show some vertical listings at the top of “default” results.