The "verticalization" of Search

TheStar.com - Sometimes, a man comes in handy

This article from the Toronto Star discusses several new services that provide pre-screened handyman services.

A company that focuses on a single vertical market can provide much more depth and resource information than a traditional Yellow Pages.

Because they offer better information, the consumers use them heavily.

Because the information is unique and valuable, the search engines rank the sites highly, thus driving more qualified search traffic.

More usage from highly qualified consumers makes these sites highly desirable for advertisers. Dollars shift from the print YP into the vertical directory.

The YP industry must improve the quality and depth of information if it is to succeed in the online world. It is no longer acceptable to be a mile wide and an inch deep.

From personal experience with my wife's vacation rental business, the vertical directories focusing on our target market have been incredible investments.

Our dollars in YP and IYP generated very little in the way of response and nothing that converted into a closed sale.