Vertical Search Engines in a Healthy Space

Vertical Search Engines in the Healthcare sector are becoming more popular than generic search engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Source: SEOChat

Web 2.0: Join the Revolution

B2B Online quotes several CEO's and leaders from top web properties regarding the new world of the Internet - a world where customers control how they interact with each other and your business.

Web 2.0 encompasses new concepts such as user-generated content, collaboration, interaction and social networking.

The key for industry professionals is how to take advantage of these new marketing platforms.

http://www.btobonline.com/article.cms?articleId=29891

It's All About Search

About.com, business.com, Google and Yahoo participate in a panel discussion on partnering with search engines to increase media exposure

Doing Vertical Search Right

I am as enthusiastic as anyone about the potential for vertical search. I will admit that part of this excitement comes from the thought of being able to successfully challenge the big general search engines on their own turf. More important, however, is that this is the type of information product that really plays to our strengths as masters of our vertical niche markets. The key, of course, is that we’ve got to get the execution right.

Unfortunately, I sense that the attraction of vertical search to some B2B publishers is that it looks simple and cheap. Get some search software (heck, Google will even license you theirs), index some stuff, and presto, you are a giant in vertical search. The reality is that you can and must do a lot more than that. Here are some thoughts on what characteristics your vertical search offering should have if you really want to be a contender in the world of search:

1) A well-developed strategy for identifying what third-party sites you are going to index.

2) A serious taxonomy. Aggregating web-based information is not at all challenging these days. The action, skill and the value are in providing simple, fast and intelligent access to this information.

3) Feature your own content.

4) Go beyond the open web. To me, this is critical. In B2B, the best and most important information is generally not free. That’s why it’s all the more important that you include it in your search engine. It’s huge differentiation, and can become a meaningful revenue stream. GlobalSpec got this right early in the game with its Engineering Search Engine.

5) Don’t forget reference information. Offer industry-specific calculators, tables, reference data, formulas, etc. Artfully blending links with evergreen destination content really increases your value to users and builds quality, repeat traffic.

6) Summarize, annotate, analyze, critique. Everyone is suffering from information overload. Even your highly tailored vertical search product is likely to return more results than the average user can possibly review.

7) Rate, rank, recommend. If you think some sites are better than others, say so, right in the search results. It’s incredibly valuable to users.

8) Add directory content. Whether it’s a simple name and address lookup or a sophisticated product search, a lot of B2B users are on the web looking for companies and product information.

9) From their search engine to yours. For B2B publishers to survive and thrive, we’ve got to think in terms of two-tier search where users “discover” specialized search offerings through general search engines.

10) Dare to be different. It’s okay to start out as a vertical clone of the big search engines, but as you gain experience and confidence in your vertical search offering, your real success will come from blazing new trails, since differentiation from the big players is what in the longer term will help you both survive and thrive. As long as your innovations are driven by real user needs, you’ll never go too far wrong, and you are highly likely to innovate your way to even greater success.

In Search of The Best Search

These are legitimate questions for both the Internet business owner and the searching consumer. And all of us are ‘searchers' at one time or another on the Net. Of course we all know the top dogs of the search engine world: Google, Yahoo, MSN, and AOL. But there's always underdogs who will challenge the established order of ‘The Big Guys' and search engine competition is no exception. While Google is aware of these competing Vertical Search Engines (defined on Wikipedia as ‘part of a larger subgrouping known as "specialized" search, these are relatively new tiers in the Internet search industry consisting of search engines that focus on specific businesses), the company already has many topic-specific searches integrated into its applications like Google Maps, Google Co-op, and more.

But this hasn't stopped an onslaught of saavy entreupeneurs from taking their best niche specific ideas into the search engine world with sometimes profitable results. This week, AOL announced the purchase of Relegence, a New York-based search engine specializing in financial news and information for an undisclosed price. Collarity CompassT launched earlier in the week and in a press release describes itself as "being a search engine that automatically ranks search results based on an individual's interests. By tracking the search terms, url choices, and selections of users and visitors, Collarity responds to a user's 'hot spot of interest' (i.e. query) with sites visited by expert-users in that area."

Vertical is Better

It's always been relevancy that drives the efficacy of search - that's a no-brainer, and the reason Google is king of general search. But because that search is general, riffraff makes its way into the results, sometimes old riffraff, which is the very foundation for the rise of vertical, or niche, search engines.

Take, for example, a Google search for [brittle bone disease]. Google does a nice job of bringing up alternative and supplemental results, and the first few results are quite relevant.

But note also a BBC article link from 2004, a badge of slightly dated information, which isn't exactly what a medical researcher wants.

It's a minor issue, but it demonstrates that there is room to improve both in timeliness and category. We've also learned recently that three-quarters of American Internet users (100 million adults) inherently trust the source they've found online, without taking the time to vet the information.

Do another search for [brittle bone disease] at Healthline.com. Like Google, except with more emphasis, Healthline provides the medical terminology Osteogenesis Imperfecta via its "Medically Speaking" function. Additionally, below that are four links to articles from content Healthline has licensed from leading medical publishers such as Thomson Gale and ADAM.

Search Category Growth is a Moving Target

Where is search going? Most people predict that the growth will continue, however Borrell, Jupiter and eMarketer predict declines in online search spending by 2010.

Gordon Borrell reasons that the "underlying force that will cause online advertising to slow down, including search advertising, is the strong attraction that marketers have to 'promotions.'" Couponing, contests, and the like are gaining more traction and will start muscling into keyword buying at both the national and local search levels.

Go Vertical, Get Results

Since AOL's August blunder, a goldmine of information has been revealed for search marketers with some especially interesting data for B2B marketers. The gaffe revealed over 20 million search words and phrases from over 650,000 AOL subscribers-- and the overwhelming majority was focused on consumer spending and personal lifestyle. While this is great news for the consumer-focused industry, the issue of targeted audience vs. broad reach is more important than ever for B2B marketers. The major search engines provide a huge branding opportunity, but when marketers are paying per click, having the right audience determines the success of the ad campaign.
Vertical search engines have been growing in popularity over the past year, but this recent leak of information shows that Tier One providers may not be the best choice for those with specialized interests. For B2B marketers, the customer conversion rate or cost per lead is often a measure of the effectiveness of a pay-per-click (PPC) ad campaign, and vertical search engines are better positioned to deliver a steady stream of targeted traffic relevant to specific industries, services and product offerings.