'Websites would benefit from vertical search'

7th December 2007

Online publishers would benefit from creating their own sector-specialised search engines, it has been suggested.

A study by E-consultancy and vertical search specialist Convera has found that 93 per cent of media and internet professionals would be likely to utilise a search engine focused on a particular sector, known as vertical search.

However 77 per cent believe leading search engines are successful in returning relevant results.

Linus Gregoriadis, head of research at E-consultancy, said that publishers face a difficult task in producing search engines to rival the major players such as Google.

However, there is an opportunity to increase market share if websites can rise to the challenge.

"Vertical search helps advertisers connect to their customers, thereby increasing the publisher's revenue stream," said Patrick Condo, chief executive officer of Convera.

Online intelligence service Hitwise reported that Google was the leading search engine in the US in October, conducted 64 per cent of all searches.