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Understanding Vertical Search
Vertical search in SEO refers to the optimization strategies tailored for specialized search engines or search segments, focusing on niche markets like travel, images, videos, and shopping, where users can find specific content more efficiently compared to general web searches.
Vertical search engines specialize in different types of searches. Google offers various vertical search options within its main search engine. The most well-known are image search, video search, map search, news search, and web search. These can be considered separate search engines under the Google umbrella. However, Google often blends results from these verticals into its main web search through Universal Search. So, if you search for a review on Nike AirMax shoes, you might see images, shopping options, news articles, videos, reviews, and regular web search links, all within the main search results.
The most common type of vertical search is web search, where the search engine crawls its database of web pages to find and return the most relevant and useful results for the user’s query. Google organizes these relevant web pages hierarchically based on factors outlined in its algorithm, including E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), relevance, page performance, and PageRank.
All verticals are important for SEO. For instance, over 90% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase, and many of these reviews are found in the video or news verticals.
Google’s main search engine encompasses all websites in its vast database, aiming to provide the most relevant, high-quality answers to user queries.
The web vertical offers a diverse range of features beyond just webpages, utilizing the Knowledge Graph and structured data to provide instant answers through rich snippets, cards, and carousels. AI-generated answers via Google’s BARD have also become more prevalent within the main search engine results pages.
Google’s image search allows users to explore a vast collection of images from its database. By typing in specific keywords or phrases, users can find visual results related to their search. Filters like size, colour, image type, and usage rights can be applied. The “Similar images” feature helps users find visually related images, offering different perspectives or variations.
Google Maps is the world’s most popular map search engine. Users can type in an address to find it anywhere globally and view it in road map, street view (3D, navigable photographs), or satellite view. It’s incredibly useful for finding locations, directions, and nearby businesses, especially for local searches.
Google and Bing’s news verticals are the largest news databases globally, acting as real-time RSS feeds that highlight the most relevant news from around the world. For prolific content publishers in the news space, optimizing for news search is vital.
Google’s video search allows users to discover and view videos from various sources, most notably YouTube. Users can search for specific videos, explore trending videos, and apply filters based on upload date, publisher, video duration, and quality.
Google’s shopping vertical enables users to find and compare products from numerous online retailers. It provides product images, pricing, reviews, and options to filter results by price, color, brand, etc. Products are usually paid listings from Google Merchant Center, making it essential for product-based companies to maintain an active Merchant Center account.
Google Books is a vast digital library of scanned books, magazines, and other printed materials. Users can search for specific book titles, authors, or topics, and access previews, excerpts, and bibliographic information, as well as links to buy or borrow from libraries.
Google Scholar is designed to discover scholarly literature, indexing academic articles, conference papers, thesis, dissertations, and other scholarly resources. It’s a valuable tool.
The finance vertical offers information related to markets, including stock quotes, company profiles, market news, financial statements, currency exchange rates, and economic indicators. Users can track stock prices, monitor market trends, and access relevant news articles and analysis related to finance and investments.
Google’s recipe vertical provides a vast database of recipes, allowing users to find detailed cooking instructions for a wide variety of dishes.
Google Patents is dedicated to discovering and exploring patents and patent applications. Users can search for specific inventions, explore patent databases, and access detailed information, including drawings, descriptions, and legal status.
Google Job Search aggregates job listings from major job boards, company websites, and recruitment agencies. Users can search for jobs based on titles, skillsets, locations, and filters like job type, salary, and experience level.
Google’s health vertical, often referred to as “Doctor Google,” offers information on medical conditions, symptoms, treatments, and prognosis. It’s useful for preliminary information, but always use with caution to avoid unnecessary worry.
Forbes (US): “Google’s AI Gamble: How Bard is Transforming Search in 2024” . This Forbes article discusses how Google’s Bard AI is fundamentally changing web search by going beyond keyword matching and aiming to directly answer user queries with comprehensive, informative summaries.
TechCrunch (US): “Google Lens Integration Makes Shopping a Point-and-Click Affair”. According to TechCrunch, Google Lens integration with image search allows users to not only find similar images but also directly identify and purchase products they see in photos. This integration strengthens Google’s foothold in the burgeoning online shopping landscape.
BBC (UK): “Self-Driving Cars and the Future of Google Maps” [BBC News website]. This BBC report explores how Google Maps is actively integrating data from self-driving car trials to create hyper-accurate and dynamic navigation experiences, including real-time traffic updates and optimized routes for autonomous vehicles.
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