define Vertical Search

Definition:

A search service which is focused on a particular field, a particular type of information, or a particular information format.

In other words, domain specific search solutions that focus on one area of business or knowledge and hence is limited to a specific topic, media format, genre, purpose, location, or other differentiating feature.

Hence a vertical search engine, instead of returning thousands of links from a query, as is common on a general-purpose search engine such as Google and Yahoo!, delivers more relevant results to the user.

Also known as vearch engine, a vertical search engine may charge more per ad than a general, or “horizontal,” search engine. People want relevancy, and the more horizontal search they do, the more they tire of wading through pages of superfluous material. Although users can always narrow their search to hone in on their desired result, vertical search engines do the narrowing for them.

Search on vertical search engine runs the risk of producing prejudicied results since it has a tendency to provide propietary content in it’s results.