IP Democracy: Search Could Follow the Cable Model with Niche Offerings

As if Google investors need more reasons to flee the company, this Business Week online piece recaps the renaissance in search start-ups, with a particular focus on “social searching” and specialized search engines.

A flock of startups has descended on the lucrative search industry. Last year, $263 million in U.S. venture capital poured into 47 search outfits, says researcher Dow Jones VentureOne (DJ ). The figures have risen steadily since 2002, when $58 million went into nine startups. “It’s shocking to go from drought to flood as quickly as we have,” says Bradley J. Horowitz, Yahoo Inc.’s director of technology development.

One interesting idea floated in the piece: much like cable television exploded into niche channels during the 1980s, search may very well follow the same paradigm.

The shift may look like the evolution of TV, from a world dominated by the Big Three networks to one in which hundreds of cable channels specialize in topics from cooking to history. “People are looking for targeted, specific information that search engines can’t provide,” says Michael Yang, CEO of Become.com, a search engine focused on Internet shopping.

Posted by Cynthia Brumfield on February 14, 2006 8:40 AM to IP Democracy