Web directories vs Search engines

Discussion in 'All Other Search Engines' started by Matthias, Aug 18, 2011.

  1. #1
    Hi,

    I'm putting this here because it really pertains to all search engines in general. I've heard Google rated as THE search engine. While Yahoo has its own following. Bing equally has its own niche. Many countless search engines though have fallen by the wayside or pushed into oblivion. In the 13 years I have been on the internet, of which 10 years I have owned my own server, I has seen a dramatic shift in content and the direction of the internet.

    With that being said, as we watch sites like Twitter and Facebook rise to fame, the one area I haven't seen much of a change is web directories. I am actually intrigued at this small section that seemly is immune to the same factors affecting search engines.

    What makes web directories seem so much more heartier then search engines? Are directories the best way to monetize web listings vs search engines? If you were to start a web directory or a search engine business, which would you choose and why?

    Thanks.
     
    Matthias, Aug 18, 2011 IP
  2. arena2

    arena2 Peon

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    #2
    i thing the web directory is a collection of websites but in search we can searching about any topic like as education related
     
    arena2, Aug 18, 2011 IP
  3. donaldsmith

    donaldsmith Peon

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    #3
    Categorized by webmasters or directory. Sometimes the staff are experts in the field, sometimes not.

    Best for navigation, but you can find.

    Requires considerable human efforts to develop and maintain.

    The automated programs, called robots, spiders, worms, web pages, etc. and a search index.

    Some of the index of the words in the title, URL, introduction, and the full text of all documents on the website. Some people use a combination of these words and phrases that have come to the database search engine.
     
    donaldsmith, Aug 18, 2011 IP
  4. kellylsn

    kellylsn Peon

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    #4
    Yes I am also agree with you, But I think search engine is the broad term than web directory.
     
    kellylsn, Aug 18, 2011 IP
  5. Matthias

    Matthias Member

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    #5
    So far nobody is ready to tackle these questions?

    1. Are directories the best way to monetize web listings vs search engines?

    2. If you were to start a web directory or a search engine business, which would you choose and why?

    ---

    For me, a web directory seems easier to monetize and would be a better business venture than a search engine. I think a directory type service would be easier to control duplicate content and links. Furthermore, even if you automated it, only the main link need be added to the directory and that in itself makes a smaller footprint. I personally have a site with 58,000+ pages.

    Cataloging large sites, IMHO, would be a nightmare on multiple levels including, but not limited to:

    1. Internet latency and timeouts. DNS issue are a real pain. Having to keep a list of pages to retry just adds clutter in my opinion.

    2. Timing. Controlling the crawl speed vs bandwidth is a headache. I've written special purpose spiders that are a logistic nightmare when calculating the crawl rate. While you don't want to take a month to crawl one site, you can't flood the server being crawled. This is one of the most difficult aspects of any good search engine.

    3, regulating multiple spiders on the same site to ensure the same link isn't being scanned twice can easily lead to lock contentions, especially if the spider spans multiple computers. In such a case, you also have to consider and calculate the amount of internal bandwidth of X spiders cross-referencing Y data banks.

    There are probably more, but the above three stick out the most for me.
     
    Matthias, Aug 18, 2011 IP
  6. unknownpray

    unknownpray Active Member

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    #6
    A directory would be considered as a storage of sites that have been arranged in some category or such. A Search Engine would then pull out the results that we want to see whereas a directory would show all.
     
    unknownpray, Aug 20, 2011 IP
  7. Jaish_D

    Jaish_D Peon

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    #7
    Directories the best way to monetize web listings. There are many such directory syndications which ultilize the same listings with a typical categorization pattern, with each of the directory page rank the listing is accordingly priced depending on the durations for which a listing is solicited.
     
    Jaish_D, Aug 22, 2011 IP
  8. carolynccourtney

    carolynccourtney Greenhorn

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    #8
    I think directories have there place but have been devalued as Google has a firm grip on Internet searches. The reputation has been DMOZ does little to help the directories that.Niche still have value, however, in that place and spiders.
     
    carolynccourtney, Aug 22, 2011 IP
  9. seopowers

    seopowers Greenhorn

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    #9
    search engine pick links from directory
     
    seopowers, Aug 23, 2011 IP
  10. ralf45

    ralf45 Peon

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    #10
    web directory has limited sites but in search engine one can find any site b'coz it has large amount of sites.
     
    ralf45, Sep 5, 2011 IP
  11. sophie1986

    sophie1986 Member

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    #11
    According to me web directories would be best for monetising.
     
    sophie1986, Sep 6, 2011 IP