vertical

1. (marketing) A vertical market.Examples: "We offer specialised accounting software targeting various verticals."; "As Barclay Capital's Douglas Anmuth wrote in a report on Friday morning, Google's "core search growth" is slowing, so there may now be a "greater urgency in pursuing specific verticals". So, what other specialised areas could Google target?"

2. (politics) A command structure for exertion of political power.Examples: "Russian opposition outlet Vazhnye Istorii reported on August 19 that Russian President Vladimir Putin's reaction to the "Kursk situation" has exposed certain shifts within the Kremlin's power vertical, many of which have been underway over the last several months ... Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov noted that the FSB has generally shifted its mandate away from controlling Russian oligarchs and towards controlling Russia’s military and Russia’s military-industrial complex as well as countering "saboteurs and terrorists," and Vazhnye Istorii reported that several long-time Russian economic oligarchs are also gradually losing their influence within the Kremlin's wider power vertical ... ISW has reported at length on Putin's efforts to maintain a core cadre of loyal siloviki (Russian strongmen with political influence) within the Russian power vertical, particularly since the risks to Putin's regime first introduced by the Wagner Group's armed rebellion in June 2023."