Topic-specific search-engines hope to challenge Google, at least in some areas

主题特色的搜索引擎希望至少在某些领域挑战Google

ARE you a generalist or a specialist? The question can be asked of people, but it is increasingly being asked about internet search-engines, as specialist or “vertical” sites take on generalists such as Yahoo! and Google. Some are already prospering: GlobalSpec.com, for example, a profitable search-engine for engineers, has 3.5m registered users and signs up another 20,000 each week. “They own that market,” says Charlene Li of Forrester, a consultancy.

你是多面手还是专家呢？这个问题可以用来问人，但越来越多的情况下它用来问互联网的搜索引擎，因为专家或“垂直”网站正在挑战雅虎和Google这样的多面手。一些（垂直网站）已经繁荣起来了：比如GlovalSpec.com，针对工程师的有盈利的搜索引擎，如今有350万注册用户，每周有2万名新用户注册。“他们拥有那个市场。”来自Forrester咨询机构的Charlene Li 这样说道。

This is due in large part to GlobalSpec's definable customer base. Its knowledge about the needs of its users sets it apart from the generalist search-engines, says Angela Hribar of GlobalSpec. Vertical sites, which serve up search results from a carefully selected group of topic-specific websites, can also target advertising at particular audiences more precisely.

这很大程度上是因为GlobalSpec的可以确定的客户基础。它对其使用者需要的了解将其与多面手搜索引擎分开，GlobalSpec的Angela Hribar说。垂直网站，在几个话题导向的网站精挑细选后提供搜索结果，它同样可以更精确的瞄准特定受众进行广告投放。

One promising area for vertical sites is health-related search, which provides a microcosm of the threats and opportunities facing specialists. At stake are the online advertising budgets of the pharmaceutical and health-care giants, which are expected to spend $1.4 billion on online advertising in America alone next year, up from $625m in 2005. According to Jupiter, a consultancy, nearly a quarter of American internet users say the web is essential to taking care of their health. “The market opportunity for health-search is very large and growing,” says Alain Rappaport, the boss and founder of Medstory, a health-search site based in Foster City, California.

对垂直网站很有前景的领域是有关健康的搜索，它为专家提供其面对的微观世界的威胁和机会。对药物和卫生保健巨人来说在线广告的预算相当危险，预期明年仅美国就将有14亿美元的在线广告，2005年的广告是6亿2千5百万美元。据咨询机构Jupiter，几乎四分之一的美国互联网用户说互联网对照顾他们的健康至关重要。“对健康搜索的市场机会相当大而且不断成长，”Medstory的创始人，老板Alain Rappaport介绍，这个健康搜索的网址位于加州的Foster城。

Health is a field where consumers do seem prepared to seek out specialist sites that provide more relevant results. According to a new study from Jupiter, to be published on July 16th, 65% of health-search users believe that relevance is the most important criterion when deciding whether to click on a particular result; only 16% rate the trustworthiness of the source as most important. In short, relevance is king, says Monique Levy of Jupiter, which suggests that a vertical search-engine that successfully pairs a broad target market with a complicated topic can do well.

卫生确实是消费者准备光顾能提供相关结果的专家网站的领域。据Jupiter将于7月16日公布的最新研究，65%的健康搜索使用者相信在是否点击特定结果时，相关是最重要的标准；只有16%的人将来源可信度放在首位。简单说来，相关为王，Jupiter的Monique Levy说，这意味着垂直搜索引擎成功的将广泛的目标市场和复杂的话题匹配会做得很好。

But that will mean getting consumers to kick their existing search habits. A study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, a non-profit research group, found that two-thirds of Americans researching health-related topics online started with a general search-engine. Only 27% went on to a medical site of any kind, let alone a health-search site. “The path to general search engines is well-worn and familiar,” says Susannah Fox of Pew. “Dr Google is the de facto second opinion in this country.”

但这意味着消费者泡器他们现有的搜索习惯。非盈利研究组织Pew Internet & American Life Project所做的一项研究发现，三分之二的美国人在线搜索健康相关的话题时都会从通用的搜索引擎开始。“（人们）使用通用引擎轻车熟路。”Pew的Susannah Fox说“Google博士事实上是这个国家第二个信息。”

Even so, there are signs that consumers are warming to the special features that specialist search-engines offer. Healthline, a health-search site with a “symptom search” function, saw its number of unique monthly visitors increase nearly sevenfold during 2006 to around 2.5m. Some sites, such as Healia, can limit results to those written at a “basic reading” level. Others, such as Mamma Health, limit results to pre-screened medical sources. The same sorts of ideas are also being applied in other vertical-search fields.

即使这样，有迹象表明消费者在对专家搜索引擎提供的服务预热。Healthline，拥有“症状搜索”功能的健康搜索网站，2006年这家网站见证了每月的独立访问数量增长了近7倍达到250万。有些网站，如Healia，可以对表明“基本阅读”的水平的使用者限制结果，其它如Mamma Health的网站，对使用者的医学渠道将预先过滤限制结果。同样的想法在其它垂直搜索领域也被应用。

At the same time, however, similar features and filters are appearing on generalist search-engines, enabling them to act more like vertical engines. Search for “achondroplasia” at Google or Yahoo!, for example, and you will be steered towards results sorted under the headings of treatments, causes, research and so on.

但是同时，类似的特色和过滤如今出现在多面手搜索引擎上，使其可以更像垂直引擎那样操作。比如在Google和雅虎上搜索“achondroplasia”，你会被直接导航到列在治疗、原因、研究结果等不同的标题下。

All of which suggests three possible fates for vertical-search sites. The strongest may be successful enough to dominate specific categories. The weakest may be picked off by pseudo-specialist features added to generalist search-engines. And there is a third way, namely for specialist sites to be offered under a bigger brand's umbrella. Last month Meredith, an American publisher of magazines such as Fitness and Parents, bought Healia. And Microsoft, which lags behind Google and Yahoo! in generalist search, hopes to use vertical search to fight back. It has bought several vertical sites in recent months—including Medstory in February. Health-search sites suggest a similar prognosis for specialist sites in other fields.

这些都带来了对垂直搜索网站三种可能的命运。最强的也许可以足够成功通知特定种类。最弱的也许会由多面手搜索引擎上放弃添加的冒充专业搜索的特色。第三种方式是，在更大的品牌保护下提供专业网站。上个月，Meredith收购了Healia，前者是美国出版《健康和父母》等杂志的出版人。微软在多面手搜索领域落后于Google和雅虎，希望使用垂直搜索进行反击。早几个月它购买了数家垂直网站——包括2月份的Medstory。通过健康搜索网站可以对其它领域的专家网站做出类似的预测。

Vertical search-engines垂直搜索

Know your subject有的放矢

Jul 12th 2007