Web directory
A web directory (also known as web catalog ) is a collection of addresses from websites on the World Wide Web , which are sorted according to specific topics. Web directories are mostly published on the Internet or in book form.
Task and function
Web directory editors do for online sources what libraries do for print media : They collect and sift information, develop taxonomies and catalog their collections. The sources collected include not only entire websites or newsgroups , but also individual documents and database entries.
In addition to this pure library function, web directories often also provide additional information such as
- short descriptions of the individual categories and their content,
- Cross-references to related topics,
- Cross-references to the same topic collections in other languages,
- a search function that can be restricted to certain topics.
Web directories are not as extensive as the automatically generated directories of search engines . However, through their editorial control, web directories achieve a higher quality on average. The quality and up-to-dateness of a web directory always depend heavily on its editing.
Operators of commercial websites try to get entries in web directories
- as part of the so-called search engine optimization to increase the number of links you receive
- to lead visitors to their offers
Commercial web directories often offer entry for a fee, which is usually booked on an annual basis.
Types of web catalogs
Most of the web catalogs known today are maintained manually, which means: All entries are viewed, checked and cataloged by humans. In this way, a quality of collection is ensured that could not be achieved with an automated process. The problem with this method, however, is the high effort and thus the great need for employees in order to be able to guarantee a comprehensive and up-to-date directory. Therefore, manually created directories are often limited to small, narrowly defined subject areas. Known exceptions were the Yahoo catalog, which was discontinued in 2014, and the Open Directory Project , which was discontinued in 2017 and is still available as a static mirror page.
Another approach to organizing collections of links is to create ad hoc categories from search terms. These automatically generated catalogs contain much more extensive and up-to-date content. In terms of quality, however, they have not yet reached the level that exists with manual sorting. A well-known example of ad hoc cataloging is the WiseGuide from the search service WiseNut .
It can also be divided into hierarchical and non-hierarchical web directories. In hierarchical directories, categories of entries and often the entries in the directories themselves are sorted in a clear order. An entry is often only in a certain category, which makes it difficult to find. An example of a very hierarchical web directory is the Open Directory Project. Non-hierarchical directories, on the other hand, consist of a network-like structure with the nodes of which the entries (links) are linked. This makes it easier to find the entries and categories, and an associative search is more possible.
Finally, a distinction can be made between commercial and mainly non-commercial web directories. Due to the business model of many web directory operators, there is a risk of limited objectivity , especially with the former : increasing the ranking in a directory for one's own website becomes an officially offered service (for examples, see list of web directories below). The user can hardly distinguish which search results (catalog entries) have "earned" a high rank due to high relevance and which have a high rank "bought". Here the traditional line between publications between the editorial part on the one hand and the advertising part on the other is blurred.
Problems and possible solutions
With large databases, there is a risk that web directories will be referenced that no longer exist. On the other hand, with large databases, the retrievability of relevant websites suffers.
In order to prevent these shortcomings, modern web directories are equipped with various manual and automatic mechanisms, such as
- manual evaluation systems ("voting")
- automatic rating systems ("ranking")
- Robots ("webbots") to check and, if necessary, remove dead links
- Evaluation of the click behavior of the users
criticism
Many web directories that used to be free of charge (e.g. Web.de) are now chargeable with costs of several hundred euros a year, which raises the question of the cost-benefit ratio for users of the services.
For users who are looking for information, many commercial directories are now less suitable because their databases are far too small to enable a targeted search.
The original meaning and purpose, the scientific cataloging of the web, has been lost from sight in these web catalogs. Instead, a large number of small directories have been created that are only used for search engine optimization or commercial purposes.
Well-known web directories
- DMOZ - Open Directory Project : hierarchically organized by voluntary international editors (includes around four million links, data is open content ). Almost all languages are covered.
- Yahoo : hierarchically organized, commercial. High rankings in the directory can be bought. The expansion of the German-language web catalog has now been stopped.
German web directories
- Sharelook : hierarchically structured web catalog with an international focus. Special features are the regional directories and special subject directories. Entries are partly chargeable.
- Bellnet : oldest editorially edited web catalog for Germany with around 400,000 entries, which are divided into around 15,000 categories. Commercial national entries are associated with one-time costs.
- Web.de : was founded in 1995 as a web directory and transformed into an Internet portal.
literature
- Mathias Weber (Ed.): The web address book for Germany 2011: The 6,000 most important German Internet addresses. mw, Frankfurt am Main 2010, ISBN 978-3-934517-12-7 .
swell
- ^ Report from golem.de on the discontinuation of the Yahoo catalog
- ↑ Sorry, we're closed ( Memento of the original from March 17, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on dmoz.org. Retrieved May 18, 2017
- ↑ Static mirror page from DMOZ. Retrieved May 18, 2017 .
