Although not Web-based, we take tools like Google Desktop Search as an example of individual-oriented vertical search systems.
Code Search was launched by Google in October of 2005 as a seperate vertical search property.
In areas like online shopping, travel or real estate, vertical search sites are well established.
The idea is called vertical search, and it's been around for a number of years.
And Microsoft, which lags behind Google and Yahoo! in generalist search, hopes to use vertical search to fight back.
It is also drawing on a fruitful category of Web search — vertical search engines that offer results on specific topics.
Some other vertical search engines for legal content (such as these and Google Scholar) have been developed in recent years.
For three years, my company's vertical search and price-comparison site, Foundem, was effectively "disappeared" from the Internet in this way.
Vertical search is a hot area, with more and more ventures seeking to cash in on people's desire to tailor search engines to specific needs.
"We will continue to see an explosion of vertical search engines like this," he said of search services that focus on special collections.
In May 2012 Almunia said there were four key areas of concern about Google's business: its links to its own "vertical search" services such as Google Shopping, YouTube and Maps over rivals, the copying of content from competing vertical search companies, restrictions on rivals advertising on sites using Google ads, and the portability of advertising campaigns from Google's system.
