I think you’re right – some type of meta vertical search engine is inevitable, simply because it’s not realistic for a general user to remember a dozen separate sites, one for each vertical; power users within a given field, of course, might use the full power of a vertical engine in that field for specialized queries.

I agree with Alex that this approach poses serious challenges, because providing domain-specific features and presentation is at odds with serving multiple verticals at the same time. For that reason, I think it may be difficult for Google to pull this off, notwithstanding their recent initiatives with Google Co-op, OneBox, etc. [For reactions from the Vertical search engines, see my post: Bring it On, Google!].

I think that Meta Vertical search engine is Google :).
In a way, it becomes a chicken/egg problem because the Vertical search is rising because of the need to address the nuances and specifics of each vertical. Having a meta search engine might bring us to the problem that google is having today.

To me, the biggest value add in each of the vertical searches is in the UI, presentation and understading semantics of the information. The Meta search engine is going to have a challenge in this area, and so I am not sure its going to be effective.

Instead, my hunch is that we are going to see a combination of vertical search and personalized search emerging and probably winning over the users in the next few years. Google will remain as a leading generic search engine, but will give up pieces in some major verticals like entertainment and electronics. This thinking is tied to what you know we are doing with blueorganizer at adaptiveblue – slicing data by semantical categories to increase ease of use and relevance.

Alex

The one that stood out for me at DEMOfall was Retrevo electronics search.

Alex