ncw164x - 9:50 am on Nov 13, 2004 (gmt 0)

What's the fate of the stand alone list of sites that calls itself a 'niche directory'?

It will get stronger and stronger, you do a search for "john doe's shoe shop" in your town and more than likely you will not find his site or his details at google but you will find the details on a niche directory which has been optimised for these words.

Call it what you want but the searcher has found what they were looking for albeit in an indirect way and that gives you a happy searcher who will hopefully return to your site next time they require information.

I totally agree that there is more than enough room for all of us because the web is so big and it's a case of cornering you own tiny piece with what ever type of site you chose to do.