Question: Are Search Engine Directory Categories still in use today?
Search engine directory categories, also known as web directories, are still in use today, but their popularity has declined with the rise of search engines that use algorithms to rank results. Web directories are curated lists of websites that are organized into categories and subcategories. Users can browse the directory to find websites of interest, or search for specific keywords within the directory. Web directories were popular in the early days of the internet, when search engines were less sophisticated and the number of websites was relatively small.
Today, web directories still exist, but they are less commonly used than search engines. Some popular web directories include the Open Directory Project (DMOZ), Yahoo Directory, and Best of the Web. These directories may be used by people who prefer to browse curated lists of websites, or who are looking for niche or specialized content that may not be easily found through search engines.
However, search engines have largely replaced web directories as the primary tool for finding information on the internet. Search engines use complex algorithms to analyze and rank websites based on a variety of factors, including relevance, popularity, and authority. This allows users to quickly find the most relevant results for their search query, without needing to browse through categories or subcategories. In conclusion, web directories are still in use today, but their popularity has declined with the rise of more sophisticated search engines.
Using directory categories to find Australia
1) Starting out on the Yahoo Main page, I select Countries underneath the regional category in the hopes that I could select Australia, and then Maps. I might also have started with Reference, and looked for a Maps category and then for Australia. Often in directory categories, there will be more than one way to reach a specific topic.
2) From the list of Countries select Australia, noting that there were about 57,000 individual references in this directory.
3) On the next screen, I looked for a Maps category, but did not see one. I thought the Reference would be the closest of the ones presented, so I selected it.Remeber a couple of screens ago that could begun with Reference.
4) I have a map categories to select and I do select it. To this point, my trail has been Regional > Counteries > Australia > Reference > Maps
5) From the list of maps presented, select the Territorial Map of Australia.Until I reached this point, I really did not know how many maps of what level of detail I would bge able to choose among.Another directory may have more or fewer maps of a particular country or region.
6) Here is the map. Next, I will try another popular directory, maps.google.com to see if the process is any easier.
7) Start out on the about.com, I note that the categoires are different from Yahoo.
8) Next screen displays its categories in two columns at the left of the screen.
9) Next screen features articles on Australia down the center of the page, but I look down the subject column along the left side.
10) Australia maps section has a wider offering of maps that incldue more detailed cityh and territory maps.
11) Another image for the map of Australia.