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Read/WriteWeb’s MacManus has an interesting poll going about Google’s rollout of “Universal Search,” and whether it spells the end for smaller vertical search engines.  I think it will have some impact, but MacManus makes a good point: much of what vertical search sites provide isn’t particularly easy to scale, and scaling is Google’s strength.  Cast your vote here:

Weekend Poll: Will Google Universal Search Kill Vertical Search Engines?

Update: Actually, after playing around with the new Google Search, I am not certain the vertical search engines will be affected at all.  VSE’s focus on specialized filtering on a narrow band of data, while the effect of GUS is the opposite: if you’re looking for detailed information about a specific group of movies, for instance, GUS may not get you that information in the most effective way because it will be mixed in with results from other verticals, giving you something of a hodgepodge.  The verticals, on the otherhand, limit your search from the outset to a specific silo.  And sometimes that is a useful thing.

I think GUS will be a very helpful thing for the end user (i.e. “I didn’t know somebody also made a novel about ‘Foo’!”) but it’s a different tool.  Depending on how the VSE’s are implemented, GUS may actually have the effect of driving users into their sites if a broad silo-less results page from Google leads them to a better vertical search tool at the VSE.

Technorati Tags: vertical search, google

Filed by Joel at 10:13 am under Search
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