请输入您要查询的百科知识:

 

词条 Zeal (web)
释义

  1. References

  2. External links

{{short description|Web directory}}{{refimprove|date=June 2010}}

Zeal was a volunteer-built web directory, first appearing in 1999, and then acquired by LookSmart in September 2000 for $20 million.[1] Zeal combined the work of Looksmart's paid editors with that of volunteers who profiled websites and placed them in a hierarchy of subcategories. The resulting categories and profiles were downloaded at intervals by LookSmart and its partners, other search companies such as MSN, Lycos, and Altavista, for use in their own systems with or without modification.

Paid editors attended to commercial sites and oversaw the voluntary work on non-commercial sites.

Volunteers worked under a defined set of Guidelines and were required to pass an introductory level test on those Guidelines before submitting site profiles or edits. As points and experience were acquired, volunteers could elect to take a further exam which allowed them to "adopt" and create topic categories of special interest. They could then move up the organizational structure from Community Member to Zealot to Expert Zealot, acquiring additional tools and oversight responsibility at each level. Expert Zealots, who could move or delete some whole categories, monitored the day-to-day operations of the non-commercial portion of the directory and acted as mentors to new members.

Active volunteers were found in many English-speaking countries (particularly North America, United Kingdom, India, Australia, and New Zealand) and some other countries such as Spain, Switzerland, and Japan.

By March 2003, Zeal had passed the 250,000 listings mark; eventually it passed the 400,000 mark due, in part, to the Zeal Charity Drive contest of October 2003, which saw over $25,000 distributed around prominent charities such as WWF.

After Looksmart's acquisition of Zeal, its internet traffic as measured by Alexa fluctuated considerably; after MSN withdrew from the related partnership, Zeal traffic declined from "usually better than 2000th" (mid-2003) to "about 5000th" (mid-2004).

Branch offices in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom were closed in about 2004, and the corresponding directories were said to have been sold but/and were gradually merged with the main directory.

The Zeal directory closed on March 28, 2006[2] and was sold in October 2007 for $50,000.[3]

References

1. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/2000/10/04/1004looksmart.html#7834b47b55f9|title=LookSmart Gets Wise To Value Of Volunteers|last=Godwin|first=Jennifer|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}}
2. ^{{Cite web|url=https://www.searchenginejournal.com/looksmart-closes-zeal-concentrates-on-furlnet/3161/|title=Looksmart Closes Zeal, Concentrates on Furl.net|date=2006-03-23|website=Search Engine Journal|language=en|access-date=2019-01-07}}
3. ^{{cite web | url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1077866/000119312507242517/d10q.htm | title=LOOKSMART, LTD. 2007 Form 10-K Annual Report | publisher=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission}}

External links

  • Alexa Traffic Chart
  • [https://www.searchenginejournal.com/looksmart-closes-zeal-concentrates-on-furlnet/3161/ Search Engine Journal article] - commenting on how search engines changed approach, making directories relatively less useful
  • Michael Lorenzen - article evaluating Zeal
  • Guest Obituary for Zeal, by Alice Swanberg - detailed history by a former staffer

3 : Web directories|Defunct websites|2000 mergers and acquisitions

随便看

 

开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识,基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识,是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。

 

Copyright © 2023 OENC.NET All Rights Reserved
京ICP备2021023879号 更新时间:2024/9/20 11:59:49