Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Video
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Applications
    • Applications

    Specialty Search Sites Bloom

    Written by

    Matthew Hicks
    Published March 26, 2004
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

      As Google Inc. and its competitors race to scour the far reaches of the Web for the most relevant results, a new breed of search engine is focusing on its own virtual corner.

      GlobalSpec Inc., a search and directory site for applied engineers, this week relaunched the site with its own search engine that is crawling and indexing a subset of the Web focused on industrial products and components. Its move points to a growing focus on so-called specialty search engines that, through a combination of their own databases and specialized Web crawls, narrow search to a specific industry or topic.

      “Search has clearly become the killer application for the expert professional community,” GlobalSpec CEO Jeff Killeen said. “The next big thing is this notion of narrowcasting as it applies to search.”

      GlobalSpec, in what it calls “The Engineering Web,” has indexed 100,000 Web sites and about 20 million Web pages about industrial products, specifications and parts, said John Schneiter, president and a lead founder of the Troy, N.Y., company. Its new Web search engine joins a database of about 60 million items, culled from 10,000 manufacturer catalogs, that it started to build eight years ago.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifIn comparison, Google recently increased its Web index to include 4.28 billion Web pages. Click here to read more.

      Beyond its Web index, GlobalSpec also is trawling the “hidden Web” to add hard-to-crawl content sources to its search engine. It has collected and categorized about 50,000 application notes that describe the use of specific products as well as 40,000 material property datasheets. It also has linked with Information Handling Service to provide standards information and has tapped a database of 4.3 million patents from MicroPatent.

      Next Page: Major search engines also are creating some targeted search categories.

      Major Search Engines Create


      Categories”>

      Specialty business-to-business Web sites have been gathering and categorizing content on specific industries and topics since the late 1990s. The major search engines also have created some targeted search categories, said Nate Elliott, an analyst with Jupiter Research, a division of Jupitermedia Corp., in New York. Google, for example, has sites where users can search on specific topics such as universities, Linux and Microsoft. It appears to be filtering its broader Web search results, Elliott said.

      Few B2B sites, though, have created their own Web indexes of a specific set of Web sites, he said. B2B sites that draw from general Web search tend to more closely filter the results to match their topics or industries.

      “In some cases, it makes a lot of sense,” Elliott said. “If its very technical information, for example, where theres a lot of noise in traditional search engines, then a specialty search engine might give you more targeted results.”

      KnowledgeStorm Inc. is one B2B site that has honed in on providing an industry-specific directory and search site for information technology. While it has considered creating its own Web index and search engine for IT, KnowledgeStorm instead has focused on tapping into IT-related content not available on the Web such as IT white papers, said Jeff Ramminger, executive vice president of products, technology and marketing at the Atlanta company.

      “Theres a lot of content in IT that is a higher priority to deliver than general search results might be,” Ramminger said. “The reason people are coming to us in the first place is to get away from the confusion in the general search space.”

      Ramminger said creating a specialized Web index might make more sense for GlobalSpecs engineering market and that he will be watching its progress closely. KnowledgeStorm also has focused on landing syndication partners for its IT content. In the next week or two, it plans to add Forbes.com as its 27th partner tapping into its search engine, Ramminger said.

      The birth of more specialty search sites could open even more search-based advertising opportunities. GlobalSpec traditionally has made money by charging manufacturers to include their catalogs of products and parts on its site as well as by selling banner ads.

      Paid search links, triggered by searches for specific keywords and similar to Googles AdWords program, also could make sense, Killeen said. He added that GlobalSpec is considering such advertising models but does not have specific plans for them.

      /zimages/1/28571.gifRead more here about Yahoo Inc.s recent revamping of its paid search approach.

      GlobalSpec is not accepting paid inclusion listings into its index of engineering Web sites but will offer a link for sites to submit their URLs for consideration. GlobalSpec plans to update its Web index with a monthly crawl of pages, Schneiter said

      /zimages/1/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms Enterprise Applications Center at http://enterpriseapps.eweek.com for the latest news, reviews, analysis and opinion about productivity and business solutions.
      Be sure to add our eWEEK.com enterprise applications news feed to your RSS newsreader or My Yahoo page: http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/my/addtomyyahoo2.gif

      Matthew Hicks
      Matthew Hicks
      Matt Hicks covers the fast-changing developments in Internet technologies. His coverage includes the growing field of Web conferencing software and services. With over eight years as a business and technology journalist, Matt has gained insight into the market strategies of IT vendors as well as the needs of enterprise IT managers. Along with Web conferencing, he follows search engines, Web browsers, speech technology and the Internet domain-naming system.

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      Get the Free Newsletter!

      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Artificial Intelligence

      9 Best AI 3D Generators You Need...

      Sam Rinko - June 25, 2024 0
      AI 3D Generators are powerful tools for many different industries. Discover the best AI 3D Generators, and learn which is best for your specific use case.
      Read more
      Cloud

      RingCentral Expands Its Collaboration Platform

      Zeus Kerravala - November 22, 2023 0
      RingCentral adds AI-enabled contact center and hybrid event products to its suite of collaboration services.
      Read more
      Artificial Intelligence

      8 Best AI Data Analytics Software &...

      Aminu Abdullahi - January 18, 2024 0
      Learn the top AI data analytics software to use. Compare AI data analytics solutions & features to make the best choice for your business.
      Read more
      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Video

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2024 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×