If I want to find a vertical search engine
I imagine I'll google for 'vertical search engine'
The last thing I want is one search engine pointing me to results on another search engine. If Google is pushing such nonsense down the results list, that's just good customer service.
If a vertical search engine wants hits, maybe it should find channels to advertise itself directly to folks operating in that vertical - I suggest Google adwords, I hear it can be pretty effective at targetting, and you get your results showing right alongside ... ...
Precisely.
Wanting your competitor to give you free advertising is just dumb.
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PS: Note to the big G: Can you feel the Googlelove? Well, kindly trot over to my prior post and taste some Googlehate+