Search Engine Secrets - FAQ

Site Popularity

Any web master trying to achieve top search engine placement has to be familiar with DirectHit technology. DirectHit is currently used by over 25 engines including: Lycos, Infoseek, Hotbot, MSN, Infospace and About.com. DirectHit technology, which measures click popularity and stickiness, claims to let users, rather than engines and editors, organize search results
What is click popularity and stickiness?
Click popularity and stickiness are two factors used in DirectHit's ranking formula. Click popularity measures the number of clicks every site in the search engine results page receives. Let's say that 20 people search for "puppy food." If all of them click on the same page, DirectHit assumes that the page has more relevance and it will be scored higher next time.
Stickiness measures the amount of time that a user stays on a site. This is measured by the time between clicks on the results page.
Measures click popularity and stickiness
Ranks clicks for low scoring sites higher
Allows people to participate in ranking pages
Can be spammed