Vertical Publishing - Market Overview

The information needs of business, professional and enthusiast communities are typically served by specialist publishers using an integrated mix of print titles, Web sites and exhibitions/events. Convera is currently engaging with vertical publishing companies in the following markets:

The B2B trade publishing market (Source: Outsell)

$22.5 billion in 2005, with 5.3% growth over 2004
Revenues: online advertising 23%, print advertising 50% and events 27%
Major companies include Reed Elsevier, United Business Media, IDG and Incisive Media

The STM publishing market (Source: Outsell)

$19.2 billion in 2005, with 7% growth over 2004
Revenues: advertising 6%, subscriptions 44% and transactional 50% — across print 40%, online 45% and events 15%
Medical and healthcare represent 43% of the entire STM revenues
The major companies include Elsevier, Springer, John Wiley and Thomson Scientific

Vertical Publishing and Online Advertising Revenue

As communities migrate online, this $50 billion-plus industry will need to transition its revenues away from a primary dependence on print advertising and subscriptions and get their share of online advertising revenue. Specialist audiences use consumer search engines for work related searches. Most publishers already realize this and many have confirmed it through audience research. Search marketing is the dominant force in online advertising, and against this transitional background it poses a strategic threat to the future revenues of specialist publishers.

Vertical Search – Own Your Own Vertical Market

While many publishers are rightly protective of their print brands, online they sometimes use a consumer search engine for both site and Web search. By doing this, they receive some additional revenues from third party search advertising, but they give away valuable insight into community search behavior and the ownership of advertiser relationships.

Working with Convera to provide their communities with vertical search, publishers can retain ownership of these strategic resources.

What is Vertical Search? >