LookSmart owns an internet directory, Wisenut search engine, experimental Grub distributed web-crawling project, FindArticles premium content search and NetNanny desktop parental controls software.
LookSmart was founded by Australian husband and wife Evan Thornley and Tracey Ellery in 1995. They both served as senior executives of Looksmart, but are no longer executives or on the Board of Directors of the company.
While LookSmart was historically a "directory" of websites, relying on both editorial staff and the Zeal community directory, this ended with the closure of Zeal in 2006.
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LookSmart - Offers 180+ vertical search sites, each on its own domain. Content from its own web search, FindArticles and Furl, with related news provided by Topix. Company profile and information for searchers, publishers and advertisers.
Meta Description: [ LookSmart is a leader in online advertising and technology, providing premium and performance solutions for advertisers, publishers, and consumers. ]
WiseNut - Owned by Looksmart. Search results are clustered into categories. Preferences settings include search by language and a filter to remove adult content.
Actdumb - Provides links to articles and forums discussing the change by LookSmart to a pay per click service.
Meta Description: [ Domain name renewal and affordable web hosting packages from Network Solutions ]
CNet News: Microsoft Drops LookSmart Search Tool - The software giant is ending its deal to use LookSmart's listings on its MSN pages, as it gets ready to push its own Web search technology.
Meta Description: [ Microsoft drops LookSmart search tool | The software giant is ending its deal to use LookSmart's listings on its MSN pages, as it gets ready to push its own Web search technology. | October 6, 2003, 4:40 PM PT | Jim Hu ]
Does This Look Smart? - Discusses Looksmart's change to a pay per click advertising service and the associated removal of sites from the index.
Meta Description: [ Looksmart dumps thousands of sites from the directory and calls it an upgrade ]
LookListings - The official site of LookSmart's search engine optimization services. Choose to submit a site or build a marketing campaign.
Meta Description: [ _rdisks_3__UTF_s8._sv_sfs6i._prod._listings._publicdocs._index$_Param_12_metaDescription@4e835b ]
Looks Can Be Deceiving - Article examining and criticising Looksmart's change to a pay-per-click service.
Meta Description: [ Search engines and directories have done some pretty shifty things over the years, but never before have I seen such arrogance or disdain for customers as Looksmart have shown in the past two weeks. ]
LookSmart Answer Their Critics - Transcript of an interview with LookSmart.com.au CEO Damian Smith discussing the change of LookSmart.com to a pay per click service.
Meta Description: [ Free search engine optimization articles to help you achieve a high
search engine ranking and more traffic from search engines worldwide ]
LookSmart Changes To Cost-Per-Click Listings - Provides information about the LookSmart switch to a pay per click service, how it may affect the relevancy of search results, and possible sources of confusion for website owners and marketers.
Meta Description: [ Pay -- and keep paying -- or don't appear, LookSmart told existing and new listing customers last month, in a significant change to how the human-powered search engine lists web pages from commercial web sites. ]
LookSmart Looks Dumb Again - Discusses the problems with Looksmart's decision to upgrade paid listings to a pay-per-click program.
Meta Description: [ After all is said and done, LookSmart listing clients appear to have paid $299 for the privilege of having the rules changed on them. They're now being asked to pay 15 cents a click, forevermore. Some ]
Pandia: LookSmart and Zeal Directories Unite - LookSmart has integrated the listings from the volunteer-based Zeal directory.
Meta Description: [ Pandia Search World News - LookSmart has integrated the listings from the volunteer-based Zeal directory ]
Search Engine Showdown: Review of LookSmart - Greg R. Notess reviews search and display features of LookSmart.
Meta Description: [ Reviews search and display features of LookSmart. ]
The New LookSmart PPC Program - Pandia reviews the LookSmart pay-per click program and strategies for dealing with it.
Meta Description: [ LookSmart goes pay per click. ]
The Search Lounge: When Giant Directories Roamed the Earth - Dave Jansik, Senior Ontologist and Content Producer at LookSmart.com, explains the history of the Looksmart directory and considers the future of directories.
Wired News: Building a Bigger Search Engine - LookSmart has released a screensaver that harnesses the spare computing power of volunteers whose machines are indexing the Web.
Meta Description: [ Get Wired's take on technology business news and the Silicon Valley scene including IT, media, mobility, broadband, video, design, security, software, networking and internet startups on Wired.com ]
Wired News: Seething Over the Search for Cash - Article examining the criticism of Looksmart's decision to change their business model and directory to pay-per-click advertising.
Meta Description: [ Get Wired's take on technology business news and the Silicon Valley scene including IT, media, mobility, broadband, video, design, security, software, networking and internet startups on Wired.com ]
| Interview with Dave Hills, CEO of LookSmart |