The vertical search market could see significant growth by adding new features, improving content and forming partnerships with existing Web sites according to a new report from JupiterResearch, “Vertical Search: Learning Lessons from Shopping.”
Well-established categories such as retail and travel will continue to lead vertical search spending. The report says the best opportunity for vertical search is in growth categories such as financial services, automotive, and health, in which combined search spending will grow more than 94 percent to $3.4 billion in 2011.
“Shopping or retail, as a relatively mature online category, leads the way in attracting spending and can provide critical lessons for other vertical categories,” explained Sapna Satagopan, JupiterResearch Analyst and lead author of the report.
“This category is focused on developing and growing the engagement on site, a critical element to building consumer traffic and consequentially, marketer spending.”
The report also says that vertical search sites must experiment with ad formats, especially categories that are not quite as adept at implementing the pay-per-click model of advertising. In addition, taking advantage of partnerships formed with sites that already have an established following will be key driving vertical search traffic and enhancing content without incurring additional costs.
“As vertical search sites focus on integrating various types of content, differentiation will increasingly depend on organization of the content and useful site features,” said David Schatsky, President of JupiterResearch.
“Shopping search sites are essentially research destinations that provide rich content, information, and tools to help lead searchers to the right sites or merchants. These elements will become especially important as the process of aggregating data becomes relatively more streamlined and searchers look to address specific needs.”
