01-09-2014, 11:20 AM
A vertical search engine, as distinct from a general web search engine, focuses on a specific segment of online content. They are also called specialty or topical search engines. The vertical content area may be based on topicality, media type, or genre of content. Common verticals include shopping, the automotive industry, legal information, medical information, scholarly literature, and travel. Examples of vertical search engines include Trulia.com and Yelp. In contrast to general Web search engines, which attempt to index large portions of the World Wide Web using a web crawler, vertical search engines typically use a focused crawler that attempts to index only Web pages that are relevant to a pre-defined topic or set of topics. Some vertical search sites focus on individual verticals, while other sites include multiple vertical searches within one search engine. 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 knowled