Google: PageRank vs Directory Model (1998)
by Anonymous
Early web search used human-curated directories (Yahoo) or simple keyword matching (AltaVista). Google's PageRank algorithm ranked pages by the quality and quantity of links pointing to them, revolutionizing search.
PageRank (Algorithmic)
1998
year
Rank by link quality and quantity
method
Infinite — automated
scalability
Won — Google became the dominant search engine
outcome
Human-Curated Directory (Yahoo)
1994
year
Editors categorize websites
method
Limited by human editors
scalability
Lost — couldn't keep up with web growth
outcome
Keyword Matching (AltaVista)
1995
year
Match search terms to page content
method
Good but easily gamed (keyword stuffing)
scalability
Lost — low quality results
outcome
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