The search engine LookSmart (www.looksmart.com) announced on March 29 the launch of five vertical search engines designed to provide search outlets for niche audiences ranging from teens to parents. The five new search engines include three homework-related sites, including Teenja.com (www.teenja.com), Gradewinner.com (www.gradewinner.com) and 24hourscholar.com (www.24hourscholar.com). In addition, LookSmart has developed two search engines aimed at parents: Parentsurf.com (www.parentsurf.com) and Gobelle.com (www.gobelle.com).
LookSmart said that these particular topics were selected based on the company's proprietary audience and research data based on user traffic patterns. This move is an effort by LookSmart to establish a leadership position in the emerging niche search space. In recent years, the company's flagship property, Looksmart.com, as well as its various partnerships, have fallen behind search engines like Google and Yahoo in terms of advertising dollars and user loyalty.
