Vertical Search

[Seekz]

It seems the buzz is with vertical search, and there are many sectors that are sewn up, like news, images, people, shopping, travel, health, real estate, jobs, B2B, etc.

Can anyone think of a sector that needs, and is missing, a good vertical search engine?

[webkidsan]

Please excuse my ignorance but what exctly is vertical search ...

[B-Double-U]

A vertical search is one that is specific to an industry, topic, or other demographic. Shopping channels like shopping.com, bizrate, nextag, pricegrabber etc. are vertical because they only include results from "shopping" sites, where you can actually buy a product.

Hope that helps.

[Robert_Charlton]

Please excuse my ignorance but what exctly is vertical search ...

This thread might be helpful....

Vertical Creep Into Regular Search Results
http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?threadid=7326

It seems the buzz is with vertical search, and there are many sectors that are sewn up, like news, images, people, shopping, travel, health, real estate, jobs, B2B, etc.


Seekz - The above thread is about vertical search results appearing in the major search engines.

There are also lots of stand-alone vertical search engines, and, as you note, the major broad sectors appear to be sewn up, or at least there are big players in all of the general categories. While there is much room for improvement, it would take lots of money to displace these sites.

I think that as the search universe expands, though, there will be enough critical mass to warrant more specialized engines and directories. When I examine the web environments of niche clients, one of the first things I look for are directories in their market areas... and you'd be surprised how many good ones I find that aren't on anybody's general map.

I think you need to find a productive niche. Explore the second and third level categories in Yahoo Directory and DMOZ. Unless you have a lot of resources, though, you're not going to be able to make a dent in the top level.

[Domsmart]

Looksmart have a few covered. Here's a list:

http://search.looksmart.com/p/page?sb=sitemap

Getting a good ROI from some niche verticals.

[Webvisitor]

I read today from the Looksmart annual report the following;

"Revenues from affiliates are earned on a per-sale basis or as a percentage of sales rather than a per-click basis. Revenue is recognized in the period in which a merchant finalizes a sale and reports to us via our affiliate network."

How can this be bad in any way for me? Anyone know of this program and if so is it working? I thought Bill Gross was the only guy offering this kind of pay per sale (PPS?) program.

[Seekz]

I remember being in the Commision Junction affiliate network a few years ago and they had many pay per lead and pay per sale affiliates. Go to cj.com for more information.

As for vetical search, I intend to add some vertical search abilities to my Seekz.com search engine eventually, after the web search is improved and finished. Thanks guys for the information.

[Wavy Davy]

I've just started a mini (very) local homes for sale by owner site that I suppose would be classed as vertical.

I have really high rankings and not many listings as I don't want to fight with the big guys.

I know I can get higher ranking in long tail searches ;)

This is just a small thing I've been doing on the side - it's cool as I make a few $$$s out of it and it is VERY local

I also incorporate a Google Mini (GSA) as a search tool

Homes For Sale Lake Norman (http://www.homesforsalelakenorman.com)

I have a nice blog here that helps drive traffic Lake Norman Homes For Sale (http://www.david123.com)

I'd be interested to see any other sites that just want to stay very local and take it easy....

Cheers

David

[Northwind]

David - I'm in a similar situation (not homes though) and am having only moderate success digging up and using 'tail' words, mostly from competitors and online suggestion tools. Any experience with some of the pay services like wordtracker or keyword research?

NW,

[Robert_Charlton]

...am having only moderate success digging up and using 'tail' words, mostly from competitors and online suggestion tools. Any experience with some of the pay services like wordtracker or keyword research?

Northwind - Wordtracker, because of its very small sample size, is not a good tool for digging up "tail" phrases. I've seen the numbers on some obviously once-in-a-lifetime phrases on Wordtracker multiplied up to the point that it's ridiculous.

The Google tool used to be good for extracting 'granular' phrases, albeit it has no numbers. The current tool isn't as nice for this, I feel, but still has some phrases you won't see elsewhere.

The Trellian Keyword Discovery Tool lacks the sample size of the Google tool, but it's probably the most 'granular' of the tools outside of Google. I wish I had a sense of what their sample size is. Comparing the tools is extremely difficult.

[Northwind]

Yes agree - comparing the tools is tough without the benefit of some sample information. Also, where are they get their data from. I think they're both pulling some via meta engines and isps, but which and what is the skew?

NW,