Zeal was a volunteer-built web directory launched by Brian Goler and Kevin Berk in 1999,[1] and then acquired by LookSmart in October 2000 for $20 million.[2][3] 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.
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 the 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[4] and was sold in October 2007 for $50,000.[3]
Referencesedit
^"Acquisition of Zeal Media Inc". Australian Securities Exchange. January 4, 2011.
^Godwin, Jennifer. "LookSmart Gets Wise To Value Of Volunteers". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
^Baker, Loren (March 22, 2006). "Looksmart Closes Zeal, Concentrates on Furl.net". Search Engine Journal. from the original on May 13, 2007.
External linksedit
Alexa Traffic Chart
- commenting on how search engines changed approach, making directories relatively less useful
- detailed history by a former staffer
April 10, 2024
zeal, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, zeal, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, june, 2010, lea. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Zeal web news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message Zeal was a volunteer built web directory launched by Brian Goler and Kevin Berk in 1999 1 and then acquired by LookSmart in October 2000 for 20 million 2 3 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 ZealFounded1999DissolvedMarch 28 2006HeadquartersCulver City CaliforniaFounder s Brian Goler and Kevin BerkURLwww zeal comCurrent statusDefunctPaid 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 the 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 4 and was sold in October 2007 for 50 000 3 References edit Acquisition of Zeal Media Inc Australian Securities Exchange January 4 2011 Godwin Jennifer LookSmart Gets Wise To Value Of Volunteers Forbes Retrieved 2019 01 07 a b LOOKSMART LTD 2007 Form 10 K Annual Report U S Securities and Exchange Commission Baker Loren March 22 2006 Looksmart Closes Zeal Concentrates on Furl net Search Engine Journal Archived from the original on May 13 2007 External links editAlexa Traffic Chart Search Engine Journal article commenting on how search engines changed approach making directories relatively less useful The End of the Zeal Directory Guest Obituary for Zeal by Alice Swanberg detailed history by a former staffer Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Zeal web amp oldid 1114062031, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
