Introduction of Search Engines and Directories

Search engines and the directories are two different programs that help to find information on the World Wide Web. The results will likely differ due to the different methods used in building their database of web sites. Examples of search engines are Google, Gig blast, and Alltheweb while yahoo, open project directory are some of the examples of directories.

Difference between Search Engines and Web Directories

Directories generally charge a fee for websites interested in being added to their database. This fee is to cover the costs of the human editors reviewing the site, and other directory expenses. There are exceptions such as joeant.com, webbeacon.com, dmoz.org, whose editors are volunteers working for free.

Search engines show sponsored links, in addition to the natural result. These advertisements are very effective for two reasons:  The advertisers’ website is highly relevant to the user search, and the advertiser only pays for the users who click in their

There is pay per click search engines, in which all the results are paid placements. In these search engines, the first search result is the advertiser bidding higher for each search term they are targeting. Although some may think that the results of these searches would not be very useful, actually, most of the ads are professional sites, willing to pay to attract possible customers. The best known pay per click search engine is Overture.com

Unlike highly automated search engines, directories are manually compiled taxonomies of websites. Directories are far more cost and time intensive to maintain due to their lack of scalability and the necessary human input to create each listing and periodically check the quality of the listed websites.

What is better, a search engine or a directory? It depends on what are you looking for. If you are looking for information quickly, a search engine might be better. But if you like browsing categories or looking for industry specific information; a directory can be a better option. A directory dedicated to a specific geographic location is an excellent tool to find products and services in your locality.