My colleague, Stephen E Arnold, publisher of Beyond Search ran a story called “New Vertical Information Service: Monaco Centric Breaks New Ground.” We found the post interesting because it highlighted several reasons why traditional brute force search systems are not working as well as I think they should.

The sharp uptake in interest among consumers and organizations for social media is, in my view, a direct reaction against the failure of the traditional key word search systems. Now I think key word search will be available because it is a utility function. It works quite well when I am looking for a document on my hard drive with a unique word or phrase. Key word search doesn’t work very well in commercial online, which is one reason why ProQuest is working overtime to get a new faceted search system in front of its professional online searchers.

I think the shift from brute force search to social systems such as Facebook and Google+ are clear signals that the era of Excite, Lycos, and HotBot are little used, although revolutionary in their hay day. I also think the shift has some implications for commercial search systems such as WestLaw, LexisNexis, and Questel.

The reason is that it is easier to ask those in a “circle” or “friends” where to vacation. I can see a Facebook social network member saying, “I learned about MonacoRocks.eu. Check it out.” That human reference is similar to the work that a traditional reference librarian performed until the severe budget cutbacks curtailed many essential library functions.

Services like MonacoRocks.eu, therefore, play a role similar to the vertical file in the library I frequented when I was in grade school a decade ago. A vertical service lends itself for diffusion by referral. Of course, if the content is indexed, a person running a key word search on “Monaco green technology” will get hits. But the curated vertical service makes it easy for me to send a link to a person in my Google+ circle saying, “Useful site. Check out http://goo.gl/.” No search needed.

The Beyond Search post at http://wp.me/pf6p2-4PO offers several reasons why a vertical information service is useful. I agree with the points that key word search is a time consumer, not a time saver for some queries. I like the idea of “selectivity”, which is a fancy way of saying “editorial control.” I also find the reference to “high value content” valid, but I think great care must be taken to make sure that source documents are valid and have provenance. Finally, Mr. Arnold asserts:

the vertical information service lends itself to an “app.” The content on this information service is a harbinger of specialized content collection and curation. I think that information applications for the iPad and other mobile devices become much easier when there is a body of high value, focused content.

I do not agree. I think that an app may be created but I think the value of a vertical information service is to provide the type of content that makes it practical to provide brief, useful guidance to a person looking for a location for a business meeting on the Mediterranean.

I hope that MonacoRocks.eu becomes more socially engaged, but the service is new. I applaud the inclusion of open comments. We came across one Monaco centric site that did not permit open comments. When a site makes it difficult for a conversation to be conducted, our question is, “Why aren’t you social?” It also makes me wonder if the blog or Web site has something to hide.

Bruce Wilson, July 13, 2011