Comments on: Will Vertical Search Crush the “Do Everything” Search Engine?

By: Paul

Paul — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:29:40 +0000

I think the end of vertical search will be content linking directly from blogs. People love sites like Digg because it gives them a jump off point into a topic. More and more users aren't searching but merely finding a favorite blog and clicking links.

I propose that the next search wont be horizontal or vertical, it will be spiral (meaning out from the center).

Consider SphereIT and Arkayne. Two content linking engines that are the next wave. And no its not traffic exchange its content linking.

By: Jon Henshaw

Jon Henshaw — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:58:37 +0000

Thanks Charles! Fixed!

By: Charles Knight

Charles Knight — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 19:53:03 +0000

Sramana Mitra recently wrote about Google’s Achilles Heel. In her article, she suggested that vertical search engines are Google’s worst vulnerability.

By: Jon Henshaw

Jon Henshaw — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:37:33 +0000

Marios, I think we’re on the same page regarding your first paragraph. In fact, that’s the problem. That’s why allowing the user to refine the search at the beginning of the search may be a better way.

However, that’s only one of hundreds of potential solutions. I’ll definitely check out what you’re talking about regarding Ask.com

By: Marios Alexandrou

Marios Alexandrou — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:50:07 +0000

Your suggestion assumes that people recognize that their search has multiple categories. A runner isn’t going to a have clue about nofollow blogs and so is going to wonder why he has to provide more detail.

I think a more likely solution is what Ask has been trying to do with prompting users to refine their searches after the initial results are shown.

The trick will be to present this information without clutter.