Vertical Search Engines Take on Google and Gain Traction

When you are looking for a specific type of information where do you start your search?

Pew Internet & American Life Project, found that two-thirds of Americans researching health-related topics online started with a general search-engine and most people use Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

But are search trends beginning to change?

Recently there has been a lot of progress made in vertical search -- search engines that focus on delivering more relevant results on specific topic categories. As people grow familiar with these new sites this will likely start to take away market share from today's major search players.

Vertical search for health is perhaps one of the most active categories and it is only heating up. According to an article in yesterday's Economist, "one promising area for vertical sites is health-related search, which provides a microcosm of the threats and opportunities facing specialists. At stake are the online advertising budgets of the pharmaceutical and health-care giants, which are expected to spend $1.4 billion on online advertising in America alone next year, up from $625m in 2005. According to Jupiter, a consultancy, nearly a quarter of American internet users say the web is essential to taking care of their health."

Google has made it well known that it considers the health sector to be incredibly important, although it remains unclear what their actual plans are.  We've also seen recent acquisitions of vertical search sites like MedStory and Healia, and momentum is picking up for health search companies like Kosmix and Healthline.

From the Economist: "Health is a field where consumers do seem prepared to seek out specialist sites that provide more relevant results. According to a new study from Jupiter, to be published on July 16th, 65% of health-search users believe that relevance is the most important criterion when deciding whether to click on a particular result; only 16% rate the trustworthiness of the source as most important. In short, relevance is king, says Monique Levy of Jupiter, which suggests that a vertical search-engine that successfully pairs a broad target market with a complicated topic can do well."

We agree with the The Economist's assessment and are curious about how Jupiter's new findings will impact the sector.  Relevance is king when it comes to health.  Our sense, however, is that the issue of credibility and trustworthiness will only continue to be more important.  Particularly as health related SPAM sites and sales and marketing clutter make it more difficult to sort through the best information. 

Will vertical search engines be the solution?  There is a lot of work to be done and room to grow in vertical search. There is clearly a huge opportunity to help people find better health information, and their are a lot of great companies building technologies to help solve the challenge.  We'll certainly be doing our part to help organize the world's best health wisdom.