LookSmart AU has gone to annual fees.

[sanity]

Check it out [url=www.webcity.com.au/secure/looksmart/looksmart/index.cgi?ordertype=multi]here[/url]:

Oh and the price has gone up too.

Cheers,
Sophie

[Woz]

Thanks for that Sophie,

Not only a 25% increase but recurring fees as well. No mention of recurring fees on the US, Canada or UK sites as yet, I wonder if they are using Australia as a test.

Onya
Woz

[sanity]

Hey Woz,

It would make sense that the others will follow. Let's face it, we all kind of expected it after Yahoo! changed to annual fees.

Cheers,
Sophie

PS: I wasn't sure if I should post it here or in the main LS forum. Hope this was ok.

[Woz]

>I wasn't sure if I should post it here or in the main LS forum

As this will affect fellow Aussies immediately I think this is the perfect place. We can always create a new thread "out there" ;) when the recurring fees start in the other LS's.

Thanks again,

Onya
Woz

[kapow]

> No mention of recurring fees on the US, Canada or UK sites as yet

Am I correct in thinking that new UK sites submitted to LS-uk will avoid a future annual fee?
If so I had better get submitting.

[Woz]

I would imagine that now would be a good time to be submitting to LS anything before recurring fees become network-wide.

Onya
Woz

[skibum]

Ick...go Dmoz, go Google

[Brett_Tabke]

Ya, we need to be prepared for other directories to follow suit around the world. (not just LS).

[sanity]

I'd totally agree Brett. It's only a matter of time.

[Liane]

Well, IMHO ... this annual fee thing will certainly separate the men from the boys and the engines that deliver the goods and those that don't.

I think the directories had better reaccess the value to their customers of these listings versus an Overture listing. Since Overture results often preceed directory listings ... what is the point paying to be in the directory?

[toolman]

>>>I think the directories had better reaccess the value to their customers

Good point. I know in the US anyway that the only reason for submitting to L$ is MSN...without that I wouldn't bother.

[zechariah]

me too it's a domino effect ;)
this proves that the worlds economy is tumbling.
better keep close to our pockets.

[Liane]

So ... how many of us actually think MSN is worth the annual fee to LookSmart? Personally, I'm not really sure. I would think long and hard before signing up and I already have a paid listing in LookSmart with an absolutely "you can't beat this" listing and great ranking results.

Still though ... I don't know if its really worth the annual fee?

[toolman]

>>>MSN is worth the annual fee

I can only speak from a US perspective, but MSN is worth it only if it's not a competitive category. If not too competitive, then it's a gusher. Unfortunately it seems MSN buries new submissions and if there's more than 100 listings already you'll scarcely see a referral. It's a judgement call.

It doesn't look like the annual fee will be annual.... from me at least. I've already suspended submissions to Y? (unless it's ecom) and will do the same for L$ if they move to recurring fees in the US directory.

[skibum]

Unless you very carefully craft submissions to LookSmart and have keywords that aren't too competitive it's like submitting to Ink w/o doing any optimization except it costs 300 bucks. Skip the home page, submit internal pages where the keywords can go in the title, and sometimes it could be worth 300 bucks/year. Really depends on the business.

If they go to annual in the US there could be quite a flood of "non commercial" stuff flowing into Zeal.

[toolman]

>>>>If they go to annual in the US

Do we really think there's an "if" in that equation?

[skibum]

So on average how many clicks per month per URL in LookSmart do people see, not counting those looking for a brand name?

The LookLi$ting reps used to say a site could expect about 200 click/month/URL but even with some very good placements we don't see anywhere near that...(when searches by company name are factored out)

[arc_light]

but you can still get noncommercial sites in for free w/Zeal AU [au.zeal.com]