From: Adam Rifkin (adam@KnowNow.com)
Date: Sat Oct 21 2000 - 18:20:21 PDT
Google is following in the footsteps of Yahoo:
The Google directory integrates Google's sophisticated search technology
with Open Directory pages to create the most useful tool for finding
information on the web. Key improvements include the following:
Importance ranking. The Google directory starts with a collection of
websites selected by Open Directory volunteer editors. Google then
applies its patent-pending PageRank technology to rank the sites based
on their importance. Horizontal bars, which are displayed next to each
web page, indicate the importance of the page, as determined by
PageRank. This distinctive approach to ranking web sites enables the
highest quality pages to appear first as top results for any Google
directory category.
Smarter search within directory categories. Google uses the advanced
technology that powers its regular web search to learn more about each
page listed in its directory. This capability enables users to search
deeper within categories and produces more relevant results than any
other directory search.
Web search integration. Google's innovative classification technique
connects regular Google search results with information in the Google
directory. This technology gives users one-click access from regular
Google search results to the most relevant hand-selected web pages in
the Google directory.
Clean, uncluttered user interface. The Google directory uses the same
no-nonsense, user-friendly interface design that distinguishes the
google.com site from other search engine sites.
When would I use the Google directory instead of Google's regular web
search?
The good news is that you don't need to choose between the two. Google's
regular web search results are enhanced by information from the Google
directory. Look for the addition of editorial descriptions and links to
Google directory categories in some in some search returns. These
additions mean that Google has found relevant information about that
particular page in the directory and is bringing it to you. Click on the
link to find similar pages in the same category or to find other
categories like the one for your result.
While Google's regular web search is likely the fastest way to find
information on a specific subject, the Google directory is particularly
useful when you're not sure how to narrow your search from a broad
category. The directory can help you understand how topics within a
specific area are related and may suggest terms that are useful in
conducting a search. It can also give you an idea of the scope of a
given category, such as the number of newspapers in California.
Google's directory engine also lets you search within a category once
you've decided on the specific subsection of the web that interests
you. In this way, you'll get only responses that fall within that
category. For example, you may want to search for teams named "Cougars"
within the college basketball section of the directory only, instead of
across the entire web.
Finally, you might prefer to use the directory when you only want to see
sites that have been evaluated by an editor. The Open Directory project
has 20,000 volunteer editors reviewing websites and classifying them by
topic. Google's search technology lets you arrange those sites by their
importance instead of alphabetically, which means you'll get the benefit
of both human judgment and a sophisticated ranking algorithm.
How many web pages are in the directory?
The Google directory contains over 1.5 million URLs.
What is the Open Directory Project?
The Open Directory Project is a large public directory managed by
Netscape. The ODP is maintained by a group of volunteer editors from
around the world who evaluate sites for inclusion in the directory. The
web pages selected by these editors are organized into a number of broad
categories under which are many more specific subcategories. Google uses
this hierarchy as the basis for its directory.
How can I submit a web page to the Google Directory?
The web pages in the Google directory have been selected by thousands of
volunteer editors from the Netscape Open Directory Project. If you would
like to submit a web page to be included in future versions of the
directory, you may submit the web page directly to the Open Directory by
following the instructions here.
---- Adam@KnowNow.ComClose of business is when you go under. Until then, get back to work. And I mean six feet under --- none of this bankruptcy nonsense. -- Rohit Khare, at 1 AM one night this week
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