General search dilemma
General search dilemma
As users continue to get non-relevant results, their confidence in organic listings can evaporate. In turn, this may cause users to rely more on sponsored listings and/or vertical search engines. The potential dominance of sponsored listings in the SERPs was touched upon before by Kevin Lee, who reasoned that the relevance and popularity of sponsored links would nudge search engines into including more sponsored links in the SERPs at the expense of organic links.
On the other hand, the threat of user abandonment may propel general search engines into improving their SEO algorithms, particularly the over-reliance on inbound links. They know that if they don't, users will migrate to the verticals.
Verticals can deliver
Verticals are a pure capital play. We all know the marketplace will ultimately decide for itself. However, it's my belief that paid search on verticals is one of the best forms of capitalism. By the process of elimination, companies with the best products and services will always be able to outbid competitors that offer lesser value.
Let me elaborate. Say you are trying to be top dog by buying high-traffic keywords. However, the No. 3 bidder has better products. Your No. 1 listing will have its budget zapped and get good response, while No. 3 works its way to the top of the bid, also getting a good response from the user audience. No. 3 will never quit that bid due to the excellent ROI. It's the best of all worlds.
Verticals protect your listings
A vertical search engine will have human editors screening listings and keywords. We will not let a company like Amazon purchase the keyword "wholesale jewelry," as Google does. If you don't sell the product, you can't buy the keyword. All listing statements must be directed to a landing page that displays the product. Deceit is not allowed.
Equally important, the management of most verticals has experience in the industry they represent and they know the customer. I can't begin to tell you how huge that factor is when it comes to the resulting customer loyalty and trust
Verticals do more
A vertical search engine can easily adapt as the industry changes because content is focused on one industry, not the entire universe. That allows it to address the concerns of the marketplace quickly.
Vertical search engines offer promotional products and services that are highly relevant to the users and customers they serve. They also offer content, blogs that users can contribute to, along with news that is relevant to the industry.
Vertical search engines have a sales staff pounding the phones all day, very aggressively, pursuing new business. This creates relevant content in the SERPs for the users.
Vertical search engines can form partnerships at the drop of a dime and tailor products to the precise needs of their industry's customers. VSE can attract highly qualified traffic though niche branding initiatives, marketing efforts and partnerships. A VSE can partner with trade shows and magazine publishers, encouraging its customers to cross-promote them by letting their customers know they can be found on the VSE and are rated as a Top Ten Super Supplier on the VSE.
In other words, VSEs dedicate all their resources toward procuring niche traffic for their users. Verticals don't want to take over the world; they just want to monopolize one industry and make it the best it can be.
Battle for dominance
Who will be the ultimate winner in the SERP turf battle? Right now, organic links still dominate. When search marketing first debuted, organic SEO was the only show in town. When sponsored links came into the fold, they were treated like the neglected stepchild.
Paid search has come a long way since, surpassing SEO in search marketing revenue. What we really need in the SERPs, general or vertical, is quality organic and sponsored links. Let's hope Google comes up with an SEO algorithm that produces quality organic links to match its quality sponsored links.
Jason Prescott is CEO of JP Communications. Read full bio.