VerticalSearch.net

‘Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down.’ —Ray Bradbury
Author Archive
VerticalSearch.net For Sale
Thursday, January 4th, 2007

Seems like vertical search is back to being a hot topic these days.
As you probably know, I’m now posting all my non-shopping comparison engine related vertical search stories over at Search Engine Land. At the same time, I’m continuing to run ComparisonEngines and have successfully launched SingleFeed (hope to close a seed […]

Posted by Brian Smith | 3 Comments »


SideStep Update
Thursday, January 4th, 2007

Rounding out its travel search offerings, SideStep will soon launch cruise search, powered by CruisesOnly, the premier cruise brand of Boston-based NLG. While I was surprised by this announcement as I think SideStep has a lot of other fish in the frying pan it needs to focus on, Jon Robison explained that “CruisesOnly is […]

Posted by Brian Smith | No Comments »


SideStep Acquires TravelPost
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006

SideStep acquired TravelPost for a combination of cash and stock. TravelPost will become a wholly owned subsidiary of SideStep.
According to the press release, “TravelPost.com has grown into a leading source for unbiased user-generated hotel reviews and ratings, travel news, information resources and travel blogs. The company has excelled at organizing travel information to improve […]

Posted by Brian Smith | 1 Comment »


SideStep Launches Partnership Program, Flying High With Forbes
Thursday, September 21st, 2006

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 […]

Posted by Brian Smith | No Comments »


Guest Commentary by Mike Fridgen of Farecast - Shifting Power In The Travel Industry
Tuesday, August 22nd, 2006

A couple weeks ago, I made a call for guest commentary on the changing travel industry landscape. I hope this post by Mike Fridgen is just the first in a series of primers on current events shaping the industry. Thanks for working on this, Mike!
If you’re a travel industry executive interested […]

Posted by Brian Smith | No Comments »


Google Checkout - The GDS of eCommerce
Monday, August 21st, 2006

Safa Rashtchy’s note today on Google reads like analyst notes I’ve read for the last couple years about the contentious relationship between travel supplers and online travel agents (OTAs)/Global Distribution Systems (GDSs).
In my first interview for ComparisonEngines, Brian Barth, the former CEO of SideStep explained “through working with us, [travel suppliers] develop closer […]

Posted by Brian Smith | 1 Comment »


Travel Search - Farecast
Monday, August 21st, 2006

-The first thing everyone mentioned about Farecast this morning was the nationwide expansion. A secondary point (if it was even mentioned) was the addition of RSS feeds for particular city pairs for a particular date (in other words, information on the trip you want to take). This should have been the lead story. […]

Posted by Brian Smith | 1 Comment »


Travel Search at TechCrunch Party
Wednesday, August 16th, 2006

To me, Michael Arrington’s Tech Crunch is all about Web 2.0…whatever Web 2.0 means…seems to change by the hour (although I like how Gartner recently ‘defined’ it).
Anyways, I was surprised to find out that both Farecast and Mobissimo are sponsoring the TechCrunch August Capital Party this Friday (bidding for remaining tix on eBay is up […]

Posted by Brian Smith | No Comments »


Airlines in the Black
Monday, July 31st, 2006

Airlines cut supply. Demand remains strong. Airlines increase fees. Airlines make profit.
What a concept!
Been busy starting up my new business. About ready to launch. Then I’ll be back.

Posted by Brian Smith | No Comments »


Guest Post on State of Airline Industry
Monday, July 31st, 2006

With Sabre’s Q2 2006 earnings call scheduled for Thursday, I was wondering if anyone would be interested in writing a guest post on the DCA-3 agreements, the recent spate of announcements by the airlines about the $3.50 booking fee, the content airlines will provide to each distribution network, reduced GDS incentive fees (TWP said last […]

Posted by Brian Smith | 1 Comment »