A method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for retrieving and utilizing customized vertical search forms. The customized vertical search forms can be customized by various service providers and stored in a customizable forms service to be made available for use by various entities. The customizable forms service can include a form registry and a customization component registry which can facilitate retrieval of a customized vertical search form by a requesting device, such as a mobile terminal. Once retrieved, the requesting device can utilize the customized vertical search to initiate searches undertaken by a service provider linked to the customized vertical search form.