Vertical Search has been discussed for some time now but it is looking more and more like reality with the launch of several new sites. I’ve noticed a few common elements on these sites:
- Level playing field: All listings are presented equally, no preferential treatment.
- Web-wide (or at least aspiring to be): Leaves no reason for buyer to shop elsewhere.
- Search focused: All emphasize keyword search, however they do offer browse paths.
- Local focused: Most ask for your location and then smartly remember it.
- Honest: They won’t hesitate to tell you what the lister would not want you to know.
- Profitable Area: Most so far have focused on the more profitable classified segments: jobs, housing, and cars.
Here are some examples:
- Housing: Trulia Real Estate Search
Crawls classified real-estate ads, integrated historic sales information, local search and plots it all on Google Maps. What is so interesting about vertical search is how unbiased they can be–all listings are presented as equal and also include a large amount of competitive info (such as whether price is too high or too low).
Ex: Search Results | Individual Listing - Jobs: Jobster
Crawls the job sites and lists them in one list, focused on your ZIP code.
Ex: Search Results | invitation Listing (None, links to source)
- Housing/Jobs/Cars: Oodle
A Vertical Search site covering the three most profitable segments of the classifieds market: Jobs, Housing, and Cars. It aggregates as many listings as it can and presents them equally. Of course, it two has a mashup with Google Maps.
Ex: Search Results | Individual Listing (None-Links to Source)