Posted on Friday 9 October 2009
Most people are familiar with browsing the net with search engines these days, as they allow us to discover websites so quickly. This is wonderful, never the less search engine results aren’t calculated by humans, but by an algorithm. So why would that be significant? Well, imagine you are searching for a restaurant in London as an example. One would type this keyphrase into a search engine, then a list of results would be presented. How do you know whether these results are trusted if they’ve never been filtered by a human editor? Here’s the solution: search engines employ human-administered website directories as a basic filter.
Directories still play a significant part on the internet, and the cleanest directories will be inevitably edited by humans. A human may recognize that (e.g.) : “hmm, that hotel has a particular rating for cleanliness and having certain standards, that’s a rather good signal”. A renowned directory receives a number of submissions everyday. An administrator will investigate these entries, and if the administrator is happy that the quality of the entry is of a set standard, it is added to the internet directory. And this is the reason why search engines still love online directories. Both dmoz.org and the Yahoo! directory are looked up by search engines as filters to determine the veracity of a website – whether it’s listed in these directories or not, as they’re edited by people and have stern rules-for-entry.
Thus do not minimise the significance of internet directories just because most people use search engines to discover things. A directory with rigorous guidelines can act as a primary measuring device as to how trustworthy a website is. If you own a website, seek to get your website included in a niche directory, like a bedroom furniture directory, a hotel directory, or a restaurant directory.
While mankind is requiring to act upon signs of trust, the internet will forever rely on humans to issue their seal of approval, and therefore directories will forever play a role.











