Update: I’m sure this has to be a mistake, but if you go to ForbesTravler.com and then go to SideStep.com, you still see the Forbes.com branding. If it’s not a mistake, Forbes got some pretty favorable terms…and I’d be very interested to see how long the cookie is set for.
Vertical search is a tough business. It makes perfect sense that a vertical engine can provide better results than a general search engine for a specific set of queries, but when everyone starts their search at Google or Yahoo!, then the vertical search engines run into the problem of acquiring eyeballs at a cost effective rate.
The three main acquisition channels for vertical search engines seem to be search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC) marketing, and partnership marketing. SEO is a game that every can and will play. Unfortunately for the travel search engines (and probably the job search engines), PPC marketing can be an extremely expensive acquisition channel as the established players (OTAs in the case of travel, Job Boards in the case of jobs) can spend more because they make more per action.
And then there’s partnership marketing which is all the rage these days because it opens up the possiblity of more ad inventory for the partner at a time when online advertising is hot hot hot.
Which leads to the point of this post. SideStep today launched its ’syndication platform’, a fancy way of saying that SideStep is developing a fairly flexible approach to distributing its listings to whomever wants them. From the release “SideStep’s site customization options for premier partners go far beyond traditionally limited banner changes, incorporating colors, navigation, page configuration, and the ability to customize page elements, such as SmartSort defaults and advertising units.”
Sounds nice. Want to see it in practice? Along with the release of the program, SideStep announced its first partner, Forbes.com, which launched a snazzy little travel site called ForbesTraveler.com (powered by SideStep).
This partnership is in stark contrast to the Amazon deal SideStep struck last November which was rumored to have cost SideStep around $1m. I’m sure Rob Solomon looked at that deal with disgust when he inherited it.
SideStep’s syndication program is a step in the right direction (well, anything is a step in the right direction after spending $1m to acquire no customers). When I talk with Rob and his team, he always brings up that he wants to follow in the footsteps of PriceGrabber. As opposed to Shopping.com, Shopzilla, and NexTag, PriceGrabber built up its business through BizDev deals, sharing click revenue with its partners. Well, if SideStep can roll out a slew of these deals, it’s on the right track. It’s not completely clear what the terms of the ForbesTraveler agreement are, but I’d assume it’s a basic revenue share on ads and booking revenue generated through the site.
What I’d like to see next from SideStep is an API program for the little (or big) guys. Kayak offers a Search API…I don’t think it’s taken off, but it’s not like Kayak is going to spend that much time pushing it when the company is thinking about big branding campaigns.
Another smart move would be to follow Mobissimo’s work last week in launching a module for Netvibes [the reason I didn’t write about this is because I don’t think it deserves a press release - it’s not a big deal by itself]. But SideStep should one-up Mobissimo and launch a module/gadget for Yahoo!, Google, Netvibes, Pageflakes, Start.com/Live.com, FireFox, etc. That would be a big deal. And while the company is at it, why not do something great for MySpace? Kayak has a general search box available, but there’s sooo much more to be done. Oh, and then there’s RSS.
