The industry has predicted the emergence of vertical search for a while, encouraged by the rise of nimble niche mobile search providers who index everything from ringtones to adult content. Granted, none of these newcomers have made a big impact yet – but all herald a growing interest in mobile search services focused on specific content types and categories. Today AskMeNow has teamed up with the National Hockey League to offer quick answers to queries related to hockey scores, stats, schedules or trivia submitted from fans via text from their mobile phones. (In theory, a tie-up between the NHL and a mobile search provider could certainly produce more than quick answers to sports questions. Sponsorship and advertising come to mind … and AskMeNow has quietly launched an impressive contextual ad scheme and natural language search capabilities –albeit in beta.) I’m betting there will be more in the investor conference call later on today. A “major company release” is promised – and I’ll be listening in. Release