In the News:

Research projects vertical

search engine revenue will hit

$1 billion by 2009

By Bill Furlong

The document, titled "The Emerging Opportunity in Vertical Search," analyzes 38 b-to-b vertical search engines serving two dozen industries, including agriculture and technology. Among the search engines studied were Business.com, SearchFinance, ThomasNet and Zibb.

According to the report, the number of b-to-b vertical search engines grew by 26% in the past six months. ...
Read More...

Online Audience Development:

Why It's So Important

By Bill Furlong

The online properties of traditional media companies are rapidly growing. And circulators are finding out that building audiences is a top priority.

There needs to be a significant change in how "online audiences" are viewed and acquired. Most publishers don’t have any comprehensive business strategy to build traffic. A top priority for online media management is to move audience acquisition to the very top of the initiative list. ...
Read More...

Vertical Search

Spreads Wings in BTB

By Bill Furlong

A mere seven years have passed since Google, Yahoo and other search engine firms entered the Internet landscape, and their impact has been stunning. But in the past three years, research analysts at MarketingSherpa, Jupiter Media and Forrester Research have identified a new tier in search known as "specialized" or "vertical" search.

New research on vertical search from SearchChannel and Slack Barshinger, both business-to-business specialists, calls these engines the wave of the future...
Read More...

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New task force to lead

ABM search strategies
By Marie Griffin

American Business Media's Digital Media Council, which is focused on all facets of online media, formed a subcommittee late last year devoted to the hot topic of search.

The Search Strategies Task Force is chaired by Bill Furlong, president-CEO, SearchChannel..."Search has many implications for b-to-b publishers, not only the question of whether the publisher should create its own vertical search product but also regarding how a publisher should use search engines such as Google to drive traffic," Furlong said.   Read More...

Google's new freebie:

Web site analytics
By KATE MADDOX

Impact debated

" 'It's going to have a huge impact. The threat to analytics vendors is real,' said Bill Furlong, president of SearchChannel, which builds custom search engines for publishers. But Furlong added that many vendors have analytics products that go far beyond the basic analytics services provided by Google..."   Read More

December 9, 2005

http://btobonline.com

Finding your way

with Vertical Search
By Karen J. Bannan

"...This year, search advertisers will spend $4.2 billion, up from $3.1 billion last year. The sentiment is voiced by searchers, too. An October 2004 MarketingSherpa study of b-to-b buyers found nearly 64% of b-to-b businesspeople said search engines are the first place they look when they are online researching a major purchase."   Read More

7-01-05 12:54

Vertical Search: Next Big Thing or

Next Never-Was?
By MATT KINSMAN

Add vertical search-Internet search narrowed to specific results for a specific topic-to the list of the Next Big Things for magazine publishers. The popularity of search-the second-most used Internet application after e-mail-is spurring demand for narrowcast searches that deliver a handful of targeted results...

Building Up

SearchChannel is working with a handful of clients, including Advanstar and Watt Publishing, with live vertical search engines in agri-business and healthcare. The company will also expand into manufacturing, human resources, construction, fitness-consumer and government market. "Wherever there's broadcast, there's narrowcast," says Furlong. "It's about becoming a mini Google."...(Read More)

Seeking Effective Search:
Search Surge Fuels Online Advertising Growth, SEM M&A Prospects

...the companies that do search well can do very well for themselves," says Bill Furlong, founder/president of SearchChannel, a Chicago startup that develops "private-label" search engines for b2b consumer enthusiast, and locally focused media companies. "Advertisers these days value return on investment highly, and any advertising option that delivers clear, quantifiable results, as search does, will prosper."

According to the D&S report, it is this predictable ROI-defined as accountability-that is driving the growth of search and that will likely keep enhancing the M&A value of effective search options. (Read More...)

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CHICAGO - With the likes of Google, Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves and MSN ruling the roost in the online search business, launching a new search engine business today would be akin to bringing coals to Newcastle, right?

Not so, at least according to Bill Furlong, who ought to know. He is the founder, president and a partner of SearchChannel, a Willowbrook, Ill.-based firm that's in the business of building search engines for media companies...(Read More)

April 27, 2005

BY SANDRA GUY SUN-TIMES COMUMNIST

A Willowbrook company is helping businesses get noticed on Web search engines, particularly those that appeal to hobbyists, enthusiasts and serious-minded researchers.

The company, SearchChannel, also helps business and enthusiast publishing companies -- primarily publishers in niche industries such as agriculture or telecommunications -- set up their archives, and index and aggregate Web content so they can be searched in Google-like fashion...(Read More)

From Chicago Sun-Times (suntimes.com)

New York-Advanstar Communications, which publishes Dental Products Report, has hired Willowbrook, Ill.-based SearchChannel to develop an industry-specific specialized search engine for Advanstar's Web site, DentalProducts.net. This search engine is intended to help users of the site eliminate irrelevant search findings.

From BtoBonline.com

"Top 10 Ways to Make Money on the Web"

By Maria Griffin. From BtoB's Media Business
February 14, 2005

...5. Paid search

For most b-to-b media companies, search income is a relatively passive stream that comes in the form of an occasional check from the major search companies such as Google and Yahoo!

However, it is possible to actively boost that revenue, said Primedia's Shibles. "We educate our editors on optimizing stories for the search engines by carefully using industry-specific terms," he said.

Other b-to-b publishers go so far as to imagine they can become the Google of their particular industry. Take Watt Publishing, publisher of Meat Processing and Meatnews.com. Watt launched MeatNews Search last June with the help of SearchChannel, a 1-year-old service provider led by former B2BWorks CEO Bill Furlong. SearchChannel has created private-label search engines for a handful of b-to-b media partners-earlier this month it added Advanstar's Dental Media Group.

According to Meat Processing VP-Publisher Jeff Cummings, MeatNews Search puts the entire meat processing industry at the fingertips of operators who tend to spend more of their time in plants than at their computers. "We have gone beyond our own content. We have over 500,000 Web pages indexed, from supplier Web sites and industry associations to government reports and consumer newspapers," Cummings said.

Search advertisers "buy a bucket of words or phrases, similar to Yahoo! The pricing is customized based on the number of keywords. We also have packages for key topic areas, like food safety, where there is space for one premium advertiser and three regular advertisers," said Cummings, adding that packages are priced from $3,000 to $4,500 per year. Cummings conceded "it's been a slow build, but we are more and more encouraged each month." To encourage adoption, Meat Processing is revving up marketing. For example, it is investing in a magazine supplement that explains the search tool in depth and shows people how to use it....

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Advanstar Dental Media Inc. Engages SearchChannel as its
Search Engine Partner

New York, NY - February 3, 2005 - Advanstar Communications Inc., a leading worldwide business media company, announced today that it has engaged SearchChannel of Willowbrook, Illinois, to develop a specialized search engine for Advanstar Dental Media; publishers of Dental Products Report, Dental Practice Report, DPR Europe, and DentalProducts.net. This dedicated search capability will strengthen Advanstar's offerings in the Dental sector by adding specific dental industry search to DentalProducts.net.

The president of SearchChannel, William Furlong stated, "SearchChannel is looking forward to being a part of the Advanstar Dental Media team, and providing them the dental industry's first focused, specialized search capability. Search is quickly becoming a proven way for publishers to enhance their business model and ad value to the advertising relationship and editorial offering."

Alex DeBarr, executive vice president of Advanstar Communications stated, "We selected SearchChannel to bring fast, focused and industry-specific search capabilities to our readers and site visitors, affirming our continued innovation for our markets. We are confident that this capability will expand our advertising programs and will significantly benefit our dental industry partners."

Advanstar's current Dental portfolio covers the entire discovery cycle, development, manufacturing, distribution and marketing of the industry. The addition of industry specific search will greatly enhance Advanstar's presence in the dental markets. DeBarr continued "Not only will our web site visitors be able to access our archives, they will be able to search the web at large for relevant content as it relates specifically to the dental market".

Richard Fischer, Advanstar Dental Media group publisher said, "We look forward to working with SearchChannel to help us expand our strong market franchise by adding the search engine platform and multiple resources of SearchChannel to Advanstars Dental Media. We are convinced that dentists will value this specialized search engine and our advertisers are particularly interested in adding search marketing into their integrated communications programs with us.

About Advanstar Communications
Based in New York, NY, Advanstar Communications Inc. (www.advanstar.com) is a worldwide business information company serving specialized markets with high quality information resources and integrated marketing solutions. Advanstar has 77 business magazines, 19 directories, 7 electronic publications, 54 tradeshows and 40 conferences, numerous Web sites, and a wide range of print and electronic direct marketing, database and reference products and services. Advanstar serves targeted market sectors including the automotive, beauty, e-learning, call center, digital media, entertainment/ marketing, healthcare, fashion & apparel, pharmaceuticals, powersports, science, telecommunications and travel/ hospitality industries. The Company has roughly 1,500 employees and currently operates from multiple offices in North America, Latin America, Europe and Asia.

About SearchChannel

SearchChannel (www.searchchannel.biz) is an Applications Services Provider and Emedia Consulting Practice. The Company specializes in creating specialized search engines for a variety of trade, enthusiast, and community-based media companies. It not only hosts and manages the publisher's search engine, but also creates highly profitable and recurring revenue systems and the necessary marketing strategies to sustain users' and marketers' commitment to the newly invested search engine.

For more information, please contact:

Dennis Spaeth
Advanstar Dental Media
847-441-3781
dspaeth@advanstar.com

or

William Furlong
President
SearchChannel
630-920-0905
bill@searchchannel.biz

Chicago, IL – Industry veteran, William Furlong, today announced the creation of SearchChannel a complete search engine supplier and consulting services firm that challenges the traditional role of the major search software suppliers serving the media industry... (Read More )

min's b2b: Weekly News Analysis and Strategies on Business-to-Business Publishing
Monday, May 3, 2004
“Conventional search services can be too broad for a busy professional who needs relevant business information in a hurry,” says Furlong (ex- Business Marketing). “We think there’s a big business opportunity for publishers of specialized information who can overcome the scattershot nature of many searches.” (Read More on p. 2)

BtoB Media Business
April 2004
"Rather than co-branding with existing search engines, some b-to-b media companies
are considering creating vertical search engines for their own sites. SearchChannel, a start-up application service provider led by former B2BWorks CEO Bill Furlong, is creating search engines for a handful of b-to-b publishers. “It’s a private label search engine,” Furlong said.
SearchChannel will tailor search engines for particular vertical industries. For example, in meat processing, the search engine will crawl relevant industry spots on the
Internet, such as government, association and vendor sites." (Read More on p.6)

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