LookSmart Stops Offering Free Listings?

SearchEngineWatch is reporting that LookSmart is no longer offering free listings in its directory (story at http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/00/06-looksmart.html.)

"Currently, there is no free option at all for any type of site. Instead, sites must choose either a $199 "Express" option that promises to review and possibly list a site within 48 hours, with a refund if the site is deemed ineligible, or a $49 option promising a turnaround time of eight weeks or less, with no refund."

What kind of boneheaded play is THIS? If they move only to reviewing those sites that can afford the submission fee, they're going to miss out on a lot of good resources, including collegiate and nonprofit sites that don't have much scratch to spare. And I like LookSmart -- I really do -- but they're not Yahoo-important enough to make ponying up that kind of money a given.

The article does note that "LookSmart would continue to add any site it considered important as part of its normal editorial process, regardless of whether it had actively submitted to the directory or paid a listing fee," but how much energy are they going to spend on that when they have all these $199 submission fees from dotcoms who are managing to squeeze that last bit of money out of the IPO scene?

(No, I'm not bitter.)

As far as I can tell, ResearchBuzz is not listed in the LookSmart directory. Don't expect to see it there any time soon, not with this policy in place.

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