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Technology Stocks : InfoSpace (INSP): Where GNET went! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: brk who wrote (3843)	4/19/1999 12:52:00 AM
From: The O	Respond to of 28311

Lycos To Launch New Way To Index The Web By Andrea Orr Apr 19 12:29am ET PALO ALTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Internet media network Lycos Inc. will unveil a new practice Monday to provide a more comprehensive index of the World Wide Web, by offering a homespun ''open directory'' that is compiled by volunteer experts, editors and assorted computer hobbyists. The company said it has entered an agreement to feature the Netscape Open Directory on its two leading Internet gateways, Lycos.com and HotBot.com, making it available to the 28.5 million people who visit Lycos sites each month. Netscape, now a division of America Online, last year began putting together the open directory by soliciting volunteer editors, also called ''contributors,'' to host category pages in their areas of interest and expertise. The directory now has 8,500 volunteer editors hosting Web pages on everything from Buddhist tradition to motorcycle repair. Lycos says it agreed to offer the directory because it lets it harness the knowledge of more experts than it could possibly employ on its staff. ''The existing directory on any Internet portal today has 200 or fewer editors which means they can catalog a relatively finite number of Web sites,'' said Lycos Executive Vice President Ron Sege. ''The Open Directory relies on an organically growing number of editors, all contributing in areas they are keenly interested in.'' While supporters tout the Open Directory as a major step in further democratizing the Internet, it is not hard to view it as an unruly system rife with potential problems and inaccuracies in posted content. Netscape says it screens people who apply to be contributors and uses a ''peer review'' system in which other experts can critique the content posted and keep it fresh. The directory has been very successful in attracting both editors and visitors, Netscape said, noting that company-compiled Internet directories were not without problems ranging from erroneous information to so-called ''dead links.'' Lycos' move to adopt the open directory model comes shortly after its competitor, AltaVista Co., announced it would supplement its own search engine with paid listings. These two divergent approaches point to the challenges Internet services face in trying to build some semblance of a comprehensive directory of the World Wide Web -- while making money in the process. AltaVista, a subsidiary of Compaq Computer Corp., defended its move to begin selling ''paid placements'' saying it was not just a way for it to make more money, but a way for lesser known Web sites a way to gain exposure. Other big portals also have moved away from their academic roots by accepting payments for certain listings. Yahoo Inc., the biggest Internet portal, recently introduced a service in which small businesses can pay to be listed on the Yahoo site. Yahoo has equated the new paid listing service to the Yellow Pages and says it is consistent with the increased commercialization on the Internet, where shopping is replacing research as the preferred online activity. While Netscape does not accept payments for listing on its Open Directory, its is also designed to boost revenues. Its theory is that a superior index will attract more visitors and ultimately, paying advertisers. Netscape would not disclose how many people were using its Open Directory, as opposed to one of the other conventional search engines it offers on its site. But it says the numbers are growing rapidly. One source close to the company says the Open Directory is the fastest growing search service and that the company would feature it more prominently were it not for contractual obligations with other search partners.