Using Direct Hit Popularity Results

Using Direct Hit Popularity Results

Updated: Aug. 1, 2000

Direct Hit is a system that, in the most simplest terms, measures what people are clicking on from the results at major search services from across the web. It can also determine how long people are spending at the sites they visit. Using clickthrough and visit duration data, along with other information, Direct Hit can show you what it considers to be the most "popular" sites for various search topics.

This page shows you how to access Direct Hit results at the major search engines it is partnered with. Also see the Major Search Engines page for links to the search engines mentioned.

HotBot

Direct Hit information automatically appears at HotBot in response to most searches. You'll know when information comes from Direct Hit because HotBot will say "Top 10 Matches," as circled below:

After the first page of Direct Hit results, HotBot presents information from the Inktomi search engine. You'll know this is happening because HotBot will provide a total match count, as circled below:

Inktomi information may also appear on the first page of HotBot results instead of Direct Hit information, in response to unique or unusual queries. This also happens if you change the default setting to more than 10 matches. In these cases, access to Direct Hit results may appear as an option, as circled below:

iWon

After you do a search, a "Most Popular" result section appears on the far right hand side of the results page. This provides access to Direct Hit listings. For any search, suggested topics will appear. Selecting a topic brings up web page listings for that subject from the Direct Hit index.

Lycos

Lycos uses Direct Hit information for some of the results in its "Popular" area, as circled below. You'll know if Direct Hit is being used because the text will say, "based on user selection traffic," also circled below. Additionally, the Direct Hit logo will appear at the bottom of the results page.

MSN Search

Direct Hit information is made available via a "Top 10" link that appears at the top of the Web Directory Sites section of results.

More Resources

Search Assistance Features
Several search engines offer special search assistance features that many users overlook. This page explains the ones that are particularly useful.

Direct Hit Partners
http://www.directhit.com/partners.html

This page lists all of Direct Hit's major partners, which include some services not shown above. The page also gives instructions on how to access Direct Hit results via these partners.

Direct Hit
http://www.directhit.com/

You can also access Direct Hit popularity results by searching from the company's own web site.