Forum Moderators: bakedjake
Yes. In short, they have retained all paid listings (to maintain/boost revenues) but have chopped off most, if not all, of the unpaid zeal listings.
Do we agree?
You have any data to back that up?
>Can you explain me where the rest 8 sites disappeared?
The looksmart diectory and the MSN directory have never been the same, not once, not ever. The MSN directory is, and has always been, a subset of the looksmart directory.
>Thus the non-commercial sites directly added to Zeal by members along with these paid listings added via Looksmart together comprise of the "Web Directory" sites on MSN.
Is false.
Now I don't follow msn.com all that close, for all I know major changes may have happened. For me it looks the same but remember the looksmart diectory and the MSN directory have never been the same, not once, not ever. The MSN directory is, and has always been, a subset of the looksmart directory.
Ok, here it goes. This may help you understand it better.
Imaster, that is nothing new. The MSN directory has ALWAYS shown less entries than the Zeal/Looksmart directory. Nothing has changed.
Please check out this thread from August that dealt with the difference between the two directories.
[webmasterworld.com ]
Do we agree?
The pages I spot checked all still have good to great rankings in pure Ink and all of the pages that were in Zeal still seem to be there. (I don't have any paid Looksmart listings.)
My free MSN traffic went from 1,000 referrals a day on one site to under 100 referrals a day.
I spot checked a few other Zeal listings from other people's sites that I know used to show up in the MSN directory, and they are now gone, too, and also not on the radar in the SERPs.
Sie la vie (sp?).
zeal discussion [zeal.com]
[edited by: jeremy_goodrich at 8:51 pm (utc) on Oct. 23, 2003]
When I go to the cat and look up their titles and descriptions their keywords are there in titles, but not in description. I have a feeling that they were showing up as INK results, not LS.
LOL. Such a crazy thread. What is the aversion to actually doing a little research? There have been massive changes, and it is easy to see if you have been tracking MSN searches. The comments about MSN and Looksmart directories always being different are simply bizarre. That is not the issue, okay? (And obviously this has zero to do with Looksmart clicks being used up.) The issue is simply most Zeal listings no longer show up for MSN search where they did a couple weeks ago. *Some* still do. This is most readily apparent in areas where there are few if any Looksmart listings.
You guys who sell widgets got to get out more. Do searches on MSN and on Looksmart for some semi-famous movie star. On MSN the directory listings will likely only be the Looksmart ones. On Looksmart the Zeal listings will also be shown. So, on MSN you will see four directory listings on MSN, and fourteen on Looksmart. (Please spare us here the non-sequiters about the directories always being different.) Two weeks ago both MSN would have shown about fourteen directory results, give or take a few.
This is readily apparent throughout. Zeal has not been completely removed, but huge sections have been.
MSN is after maximum SERP monetization / always has been. It's sort of a no brainer that with kicking out LookSmart, they'd also dump the freebie stuff that drives zero revenue.
I just don't see the rocket science here, MSN reps have repeatedly stated they're after $$$ with their engine - maybe that'll change when or if they have their own, but for now, it's about maximum $$$ per search.
I don't follow MSN too close, I'll take your word on it. Most is a very broad term though, as I asked before you have any data to back that up?
>You guys who sell widgets got to get out more.
Fair point. I sell widgets, thats false I make widgets, would never have thought of adding semi-famous movie stars to my site. I tip my hat to you, what a great idea.
www.zeal.com
Do they publish the percentages? Not that I know of.
Does it take more than a few minutes of surfing through Zeal and looking at the paid versus unpaid icons to see that "most" is an understatement? No.
This is SEO, MSN is very important. Clicking about a directory and looking at icons is not the right way to form an opinion IMHO.
I found these, feel free to disagree.
SAN FRANCISCO, March 18, 2003 - LookSmart (Nasdaq: LOOK, ASX: LOK), a global leader in search, today announced that Zeal's community of volunteers has now contributed more than 250,000 high quality, non-commercial listings to its Web directory.
[zeal.com...]
LookSmart's editorial directories span 33 geographic markets and 13 different languages, with more than four million Web sites
You are saying more than two million sites pay Looksmart every month. I believe more than two million don't. I certainly don't much care either way. In any case, its not very important to the fact that lots of free listings have been removed. As Jeremy points out there isn't anything surprising about serving up only or mostly paid listings.
Nope.
I am saying that your statement;
Most directory listings come from Zeal.
Is false.
Once again;
Now I don't follow msn.com all that close, for all I know major changes may have happened. For me it looks the same but remember the looksmart diectory and the MSN directory have never been the same, not once, not ever. The MSN directory is, and has always been, a subset of the looksmart directory.
Regardless, thanks for the semi-famous movie stars tip.
I meant "unpaid".
The MSN directory is, and has always been, a subset of the looksmart directory.
This is completely false. Such a phenomenon had started happening in around mid-August when a thread for the same had emerged. Before that, the MSN directory had always been a complete copy of the Looksmart directory.
At the risk of drawing the wrath of those pointing out the Ink. glitch and difference between L$ and Ink., I'd say that, at least for the moment, L$ is no more from the MSN perspective.
I know the difference between the two types of results (not including "featured" and "sponsored" results), of course, as it's not a difficult thing to get. When going to MSN now though, I'm getting "beta" MSN Search, with the order of results being:
1) Featured Listings (a la MSN advertisers)
2) Sponsored Listings (a la Overture)
3) Web Pages (a la Inktomi)
I was a bit surprised actually, being under the impression that L$ was going to actually stay as the focus of MSN results until next year.
I've looked for more info. on this, trying to determine if L$ can be used between now and Jan. 15 to get some MSN traffic.
It would appear that L$ submissions are now a total waste - anyone heard if this "beta" move is temporary, or whether L$ will be back at all between now and their R.I.P. date of Jan. 15?
(side note: not a fan of L$, but I'll take the traffic for the next 2-3 months if I can get it).
~Canton
I'm getting "beta" MSN Search
I've only seen traditional MSN search to date. Has anybody sussed out how MSN is beta testing? Are splits by geo, session?
Are splits by geo, session?
Yes, I think that's happening here as some have observed a huge number of results dropped, while others haven't.
