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.

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