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Yahoo! Directory

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Yahoo! Directory Overview
– Web directory owned by Yahoo!
– Launched in January 1994
– Rivaled DMOZ in size
– Started as ‘Jerry and Davids Guide to the World Wide Web
– Became less significant after Yahoo! Search was introduced in 2002

Organization and Structure
– Users could browse thousands of listings
– Listings were organized in 7 or more tiers
– Example path: recreation – games – board games – chess
– Two options for suggesting websites: Standard (free) and paid submission
– Standard option was later dropped

Submission Process
– Non-refundable review fee of $299 ($600 for adult sites)
– Fee required for suggesting any website
– Annual charge if website was listed
– Paid submission process offered expedited review
– Standard submission option was free but no longer available

Closure and Changes
Yahoo! Directory closed on December 31, 2014
– Country-specific directories were closed in 2010
– Directory was still being updated as of August 19, 2014
Yahoo! announced closure on September 26, 2014
– Change in focus and closure of directories part of Yahoo!’s progress report

Related Information
– See also: List of web directories
– See also: List of defunct Yahoo! services
– References: Various sources and articles
Yahoo! Directory mentioned in golem.de article
Yahoo! website provided information on adding sites to the directory

Yahoo! Directory (Wikipedia)

The Yahoo! Directory was a web directory which at one time rivaled DMOZ in size. The directory was Yahoo!'s first offering and started in 1994 under the name Jerry and David's Guide to the World Wide Web. When Yahoo! changed its main results to crawler-based listings under Yahoo! Search in October 2002, the human-edited directory's significance dropped, but it was still being updated as of August 19, 2014. Users could browse thousands of listings which were organized in 7 or more tiers. For example, if a user was looking for a site on chess they might follow a path such as: recreation -> games -> board games -> chess.

Yahoo! Directory
Type of site
Web directory
OwnerYahoo!
URLArchived November 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
Commercialyes
LaunchedJanuary 1994; 30 years ago (1994-01)
Current statusDefunct as of December 26, 2014

The directory originally offered two options for suggesting websites for possible listing: "Standard", which was free, and a paid submission process which offered expedited review. "Standard" was dropped, and a non-refundable review fee of $299 ($600 for adult sites) was required when suggesting any website. If listed, the same amount was charged annually.

On September 26, 2014, Yahoo! announced that it would be closing the directory on December 31, 2014. This followed the closing of a number of country-specific directories in 2010.

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