Google Directory Out of Beta?

The Google Directory was officially launched yesterday and is apparently out of beta -- at least the beta graphic is gone from http://directory.google.com/ .. As I said a few days ago, this directory is based on the dmoz.org searchable subject index, but Google's tweaked it. First of all, if you go to the directory URL as listed above, I think it searches the entire Google Web index, and not just the directory. If you want to search just the Web directory, go to http://www.google.com/search?cat=gwd%2FTop .

Now, what changes? To begin with, Google has incorporated its page- ranking feature into the listings, so pages will be listed in the directory by how popular they are on the Internet. Additionally, the directory search integrates some of the Web directory's content. That's nice -- to a point. One of the reasons one might search a subject index instead of a Web engine is because they want a pathfinder to information without a lot of extraneous stuff. Google's integrating Web search results in with the directory search results moves irritatingly into the realm of extraneous. It would be nice if you could specify what you wanted: full Web search, directory search only, or integrated Web and directory search. Despite that quibble I'm very psyched that Google's come up with this.

Posted to Search Engines-Google