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Web directories: selected features and their impact on directory quality

Adam Jachimczyk (Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland)
Magdalena Chrapek (Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland)
Zbigniew Chrapek (Holycross Cancer Center, Kielce, Poland)

Program: electronic library and information systems

ISSN: 0033-0337

Article publication date: 4 July 2016

367

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is statistical examination of nearly 7,000 web directories and an analysis of factors which affect their quality measured by PageRank.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors analysed 6,821 directories registered at www.katalogiseo.info/. The following information about the directories was examined: the year of registration on the website, the directory’s PageRank value, the existence of an active IP address, backlink requests, a fee charged for submission to the directory, as well as directory moderation and subject. Statistical analyses were performed with the use of Microsoft Excel, version 2010, and R software, version 3.0.0. The PageRank values were collected with a software written in Python.

Findings

The study has shown a gradual increase in popularity of directories as one of the basic tools in search engine optimisation. The analysis has indicated a relatively high percentage of spam web directories. The evidence of this is the number of directories with undetermined PageRank values. The study revealed that careful management of a directory and its subject have key impact on directory quality measured by PageRank.

Originality/value

Relatively few publications focus on the problem of web directories which represent a very large group of websites created solely to manipulate web search engine rankings. This paper discusses the phenomenon of web directories, reveals the percentage of spam directories, and factors which affect their quality measured by PageRank.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Anna Kaczynska-Hare, Martin H. Hare and Marzena Moglia for English translation assistance.

Citation

Jachimczyk, A., Chrapek, M. and Chrapek, Z. (2016), "Web directories: selected features and their impact on directory quality", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 50 No. 3, pp. 340-352. https://doi.org/10.1108/PROG-08-2014-0060

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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