Well, I've been meaning to post something like this for a while as people would find it interesting to see the transformation of some of the most popular directories over the years. Thanks to the Wayback Machine, Here is a look into the Past: Important: It took me a while to make this list and if you intend to use it on your site, please provide a link to Web Directory List for credit. Thanks. DMOZ: April 17, 1999: 441,310 sites - 3,432 unreviewed (I Wonder what it would be now?) - 8,979 editors - 68,150 categories Also, Look at the Logo. April 8, 2000: 1,651,302 sites - 23,544 editors - 248,299 categories May 3, 2001: 2,611,972 sites - 36,475 editors - 366,209 categories May 30, 2002: 3,428,535 sites - 48,968 editors - 396,282 categories April 24, 2003: Over 3.8 million sites - 56,507 editors - over 460,000 categories. May 27, 2004: Over 4 million sites - 63,358 editors - over 590,000 categories. May 27, 2005: 4,648,549 sites - 68,257 editors - over 590,000 categories May 28, 2006: 5,265,601 sites - 72,640 editors - over 590,000 categories Today : 4,830,584 sites - 75,151 editors - over 590,000 categories Yahoo! Directory: March 2, 2000 - 2001 - April 2, 2002 - April 9, 2003 - June 5, 2004 - June 5, 2005 - April 28, 2006 - Today JoeAnt: September 25, 2001 - September 25, 2002 - September 27 2003 - September 27, 2004 - September 30, 2005 - May 16, 2006 - Today (New Design) Best of the Web: Prior to April 2003 BOTW.org was not a directory (March 27, 2003) - April 20, 2003 - May 24, 2004 - September 25, 2005 - May 29, 2006 - Today Jayde: December 21, 1996 - October 12, 1997 - December 12, 1998 - November 15, 1999 - December 5, 2000 - December 14, 2001 - December 12, 2002 - December 30, 2003 - December 31, 2004 - December 31, 2005 - May 19, 2006 - Today ExactSeek: May 5, 2001 - May 25, 2002 - May 23, 2003 - May 21, 2004 - May 21, 2005 - May 29, 2006 - Today Uncover The Net: October 10, 2004 - January 1, 2005 - January 14, 2006 - Today Alive Directory: December 31, 2005 - May 29, 2006 - Today Aviva Directory: February 27, 2005 - November 28, 2005 - May 11, 2006 - Today WOW Directory: June 11, 2004 - January 26, 2005 - December 31, 2005 - August 29, 2006 - Today Hope you enjoyed it! Important: It took me a while to make this list and if you intend to use it on your site, please provide a link to Web Directory List for credit. Thanks.
Thats a nice list.. good work.. So Alive have changed just their logo uptil now Aviva was just a simple page
Working fine here. Nice information, but you probably forgot to list Site-Sift.com another popular directory.
What about the not so well known directory dating back 2003? http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.wwws.org Jun 08, 2003 http://web.archive.org/web/20031230230149/http://wwws.org/
I noticed I forgot a few....It was taking me a while and I had to go so I didn't get to do all the ones I wanted to. Nevertheless, it's an interesting look into the past. P.S. Anyone have any comments on DMOZ's growth? Isn't that amazing? (with exception to the queue we experience, to list that many sites is incredible)
thanks for sharing such a long list m8. Aviva and Alive has been only 2 years, but very impressively become one of the leading in the market. But that comes with no surprise since both working hard for it!
you mean the bottom part where he links to alive? Could be a link exchange, no? but hey, interesting find girl!
Here's some more directories: Site-Sift: September 5, 2004 - December 16, 2004 (Look at those colors!) - September 23, 2005 - August 20, 2006 - Today This is Our Year: April 5, 2001 - January 23, 2002 - February 1, 2003 - January 26, 2004 - January 1, 2005 - 2006 - Today Business.com: January 25, 1999 - January 29, 2000 - January 19, 2001 - January 23, 2002 - February 8, 2003 - January 30, 2004 - January 1, 2005 - January 1, 2006 - Today Let me know if you guys want to see anymore directories.