Vertical Search Engines and Small Business Marketing

Late last summer there was a ton of press about Cuil, the supposed Google Killer.  This was a new Search Engine that was supposed to steal traffic from Google and make the “next step” in Search.  As we all know now, Cuil is pretty much a punchline in the Search Community with small and dwindling traffic.

The reasons for Cuil’s failure so far can be attributed at least partly to the space and competition.  The Search Market is established, and the current Engines do what they do well.  To get a consumer to change their current search engine you don’t have to be five percent better than Google you have to be 500 percent better and that is a high bar to cross. Consumers are now ingrained to search Google, and “Googling” has entered our lexicon.

It reminds me of when Fox decided it was going to be a “network” like ABC, CBS, and NBC.  They failed for a long time until they had to severely overpay for the NFL, which brought viewers and news, and finally respectability.  But what is the NFL out there that can pull any kind of major traffic away from Google, Yahoo, MSN or even Ask.  It seems a different business model is emerging.

This article from Electronic Retailer Magazine talks about Vertical Search Engines.  These are engines that focus on a specific industry or topic and deliver results suited to those topics. Often these engines use humans to sort the results to keep out spam and make sure results are relevant. While none will approach the traffic of Google they can each siphon off searchers who know what they are looking for and need focused results.

To demonstrate we ran a test  for search results on a subject that brings back very different results.  We ran “steroids” through Google and OmniMedicalSearch and they brought back very different results, which makes sense. Both have paid advertising, OmniMedicalSearch keeps 6 AdSense results at the top of the page and Google runs them on the top and down the side.  On Google the organic or natural results come back with a site to buy steroids, general news about steroids, pictures of bodybuilders, very general, topical results. On OmniMedicalSearch the results come from Medical sites and give the definition of steroids and list different types. Obviously these would be results that would make more sense for a medical professional.  If you wnated to reach Medical professionals with a product OmniMedicalSearch can be a great place to advertise through the Google content network. Other engines actually sell their own space on their sites. Search Engine Watch has a nice list of  vertical engines that you can check out.

The article points out that these engines are like cable television, popping up and taking specialized traffic away from the Search Engines.  The goal is not to try and change everybody, but rather to deliver more focused results to a core group of searchers.

So how can small businesses use these engines?  In actuality, these engines can be a major part of small business strategies.  They can deliver more quality results for less money in the paid search realm and getting ranked in these engines can drive qualified organic search. Ian Howells, general manager of agency services at Pepperjam, one of the nation’s fastest growing online marketing agencies was quoted in the article as saying:

General search engines are focused on returning the most relevant results for the widest variety of searches.”  A vertical search engine puts more effort–much of it human, as opposed to automated–into a much smaller index of results. Typically, the results are of a superior quality. There is far less spam. Results tend to be extremely relevant and the site quality is excellent.”

He points out that while these engines don’t drive nearly as much traffic that the large engines bring, but the traffic that comes to a site through these engines is much more affordable, focused and likely to convert.  That is kind of a mantra here at Raise, bringing qualified traffic that is likely to convert as efficiently as possible.  When we take on clients for a search marketing campaign one of the first things that we do is identify any Vertical Search Engines that will make sense for them.  Often there aren’t any, or we run tests and they aren’t as effective as we hoped but when they work they can be a true home run for a company, especially a small business with a tight budget.

If you have more questions about Vertical Search Engines please don’t hesitate to contact us for a more in depth conversation.

Comments