NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: MARK GIBBS ON WEB APPLICATIONS 08/16/04 Today's focus: The value of vertical search
Dear [EMAIL PROTECTED], In this issue: * Calculating the cost advantages of using vertical search ��engines * Links related to Web Applications * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by IBM Integrate operations Your data. Your systems. Your people. Integrate them all, and you increase productivity. Enable smarter business decisions. And ultimately, transform information into insight -- and revenues. IBM middleware can make the connections. See how in case studies, demos and more. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=72640 _______________________________________________________________ CHECK OUT NW FUSION'S NEW WHITE PAPER LIBRARY Just launched: NW Fusion's White Paper Library with new features and improved capabilities! Sort NW Fusion's library of white papers by Date and Vendor, view white papers by TECHNICAL CATEGORY, mouse over white paper descriptions and take advantage of our IMPROVED white paper search engine. CLICK HERE: http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=72555 _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: The value of vertical search By Mark Gibbs A few weeks ago, I discussed vertical search engines - search engines that address a well-defined vertical market (a narrow topic with deep content) as opposed to, say, Google's horizontal market approach (the broadest possible range of topics with a shallow reach). The intention of vertical search engines is to add value by increasing the value of the search. So what are the business models for vertical search engines? The key issue is who pays and there are three ways a vertical search engine can be monetized: 1. Listed sites pay. 2. The subscribers pay. 3. Advertisers pay. The ideal formula would be to exploit all three revenue streams but whether that can be done depends on the nature of the content and the consumer of the service. Consider, for example, a product from EDC called Legal Advantage (see editorial links below). This is a vertical search engine that "provides lawyers with client-oriented information specifically tailored to the way individual lawyers work." The cost is born by subscribers and due to the nature of the content and the users, subscriptions are EDC's sole revenue stream. The reason that Legal Advantage is likely to be very successful is that it provides a single point of service that has been traditionally delivered through multiple industry services such as Westlaw, LexisNexis, and generic search engines such as Google. Legal Advantage essentially brokers data from other sources and adds no human editorial processes other than those applied by their external suppliers such as Reuters. The focus is the tracking of one client's data - share prices, public financial statements, press releases, competitive market data, and so on - essentially a dynamic, in-depth profile of a company. Now, as I pointed out earlier, the intention of vertical search engines is to add value by increasing the value of the search process, so rather than a horizontal search providing 900 hits with a 10% relevancy a vertical search a service such as Legal Advantage might return 100 hits with a 90% relevancy. If examining a hit to determine its relevancy takes 30 seconds then 900 hits from a horizontal search engine will take 7.5 hours as opposed to analyzing 100 hits from a vertical search engine, which will require just 50 minutes. In both cases, we wind up with the same number of relevant results (90). Now if the user is, say, a lawyer who charges $300 per hour then the horizontal search will cost $2,250 for the lawyer to go through the hits, while the vertical search would cost just $250. Add to that that Legal Advantage claims to cost about one-third the price of subscriptions to multiple databases to search the same range of materials and you can see a very powerful argument for industry or task specific vertical search engines. RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS Vertical search engines and what Google can't do Network World Web Applications Newsletter, 07/19/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/web/2004/0719web1.html Legal Advantage http://edc-advantage.com/ LexisNexis http://www.lexisnexis.com/ Westlaw http://www.westlaw.com/ Windows users put on defensive by SP2 Network World, 08/16/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/081604xpsp.html Companies play nice in front of W3C Network World, 08/16/04 http://www.nwfusion.com/news/2004/081604standards.html _______________________________________________________________ To contact: Mark Gibbs Mark Gibbs is a consultant, author, journalist, and columnist and he writes the weekly Backspin and Gearhead columns in Network World. We'll spare you the rest of the bio but if you want to know more, go to <http://www.gibbs.com/mgbio>. Contact him at <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter is sponsored by Oracle An Economist Intelligence Unit White Paper: From Grid to Great? Grid computing is breaking out. Familiar mostly to academics, government groups, and scientific researchers, this technology that links together the power of diverse computers to create powerful, fast and flexible systems is beginning to catch on in the corporate world. Included in this white paper, results and interviews from a global survey among Sr Executives, click to download now http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=72604 _______________________________________________________________ ARCHIVE LINKS Archive of the Web Applications newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/web/index.html _______________________________________________________________ The Future of the Wide-area Wireless Enterprise - New Webcast Hear how high volume manufacturers are going to drive the enterprise value up, by innovating in the standards space by driving the cost down. Find out what big changes are happening this year to seriously change the mobile and wireless landscape. http://www.fattail.com/redir/redirect.asp?CID=72494 _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE WONDERING IF YOUR PAY IS UP TO SNUFF? Check out Network World's 2004 Salary Calculator to see if you're getting paid what you're worth. Using data collected in the 2004 Network World Salary Survey, we've programmed this calculator with several categories that could affect your pay. Answer the questions and find out what the average salary is for your job category. Click here: <http://www.nwfusion.com/salary/2004/calculator.html> _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. Apply today at http://www.subscribenw.com/nl2 International subscribers click here: http://nww1.com/go/circ_promo.html _______________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail newsletters, go to: <http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/Changes.aspx> To unsubscribe from promotional e-mail go to: <http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/Preferences.aspx> To change your e-mail address, go to: <http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/ChangeMail.aspx> Subscription questions? Contact Customer Service by replying to this message. This message was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please use this address when modifying your subscription. _______________________________________________________________ Have editorial comments? Write Jeff Caruso, Newsletter Editor, at: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Inquiries to: NL Customer Service, Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 For advertising information, write Kevin Normandeau, V.P. of Online Development, at: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Copyright Network World, Inc., 2004 ------------------------ This message was sent to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/BCfwlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kumpulan/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
