Google Extends Award-Winning Search Service with Addition of Netscape's Open Directory Project

New Google Directory Significantly Enhances Search and Browsing Performance with Broader Access to Web-Based Information, Website Ranking, and Improved Search Within Categories

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - March 15, 2000 - Google, one of the fastest growing search destination sites on the World Wide Web, today announced that it has expanded the search capabilities of its award-winning site with the addition of a new directory service. The new Google directory combines Google's sophisticated search technology with the Netscape® Open Directory Project, the leading Internet directory, to create a more comprehensive, relevant, and easy-to-use web search and browsing service.

The Google directory, which is available immediately at www.google.com, significantly expands access to information on the Internet by augmenting Google's standard web search results with hand-selected directory listings from Netscape's Open Directory Project.

The Google directory applies Google's patent-pending PageRank™ technology to list web pages in a more useful order of relevance and quality, rather than in alphabetical order, making it easier to identify high-quality, highly relevant information. The Google directory also applies Google's advance technology to improve search over directory listings, producing a broader selection of highly relevant Netscape Open Directory-identified sites.

The Netscape Open Directory Project, the most comprehensive Internet directory, is the first directory built and maintained by the web community at large. It lets web users review and categorize sites based on their areas of interest and expertise. By licensing Netscape's Open Directory, Google can rely on more than 22,000 contributors to select and organize over 1.5 million of the web's best sites into 200,000 categories.

"The addition of Netscape's Open Directory Project creates the most comprehensive and robust search resource for finding information and browsing the web," said Larry Page, Google CEO and co-founder. "We've combined the best aspects of search and directories to create an enhanced tool for easy access to information contained on the web."

Google Directory Features
The Google directory integrates Google's sophisticated search technology with Netscape Open Directory pages to create the most useful tool for finding information on the web. Key improvements include the following:

Importance ranking. The Google directory starts with a collection of websites selected by Netscape's Open Directory volunteer editors. Google then applies its patent-pending PageRank technology to rank the sites based on their importance. Horizontal bars, which are displayed next to each web page, indicate the importance of the page, as determined by PageRank. This distinctive approach to ranking web sites enables the highest quality pages to appear first as top results for any Google directory category. (For example, see http://directory.google.com/Top/Recreation/Travel/)
Smarter search within directory categories. Unlike other directories, Google uses the advanced technology that powers its regular web search to search over all the content of sites within a category, not just the titles and descriptions. This capability enables users to search deeper within categories and produces more relevant results than any other directory search.
Web search integration. Google's innovative classification technique connects regular Google search results with information in the Google directory. This technology gives users one-click access from regular Google search results to the most relevant hand-selected web pages in the Google directory. (For example, see http://www.google.com/search?q=the+economist)
Clean, uncluttered user interface. The Google directory uses the same no-nonsense, user-friendly interface design that distinguishes the google.com site. (See http://directory.google.com/index.html)

"Google is always eager to make the best information resources available to its users," said Sergey Brin, Google president and co-founder. "With the integration of the Netscape Open Directory Project, Google has taken a great, open information resource and made it even more useful and accessible."

The Google directory is easily accessed via a link on Google's homepage at www.google.com. In addition, Google now provides listings of related directory categories at the top of search results pages for easy one-click access, and provides links to related categories within specific search results.

The new tools provide immediate access to Google's award-winning advanced search technology, which delivers desired results with speed and precision.

About Google Inc.
Google was founded in 1998 by Stanford University Ph.D. candidates Larry Page and Sergey Brin to create a new generation of powerful, scalable search engine products to improve the user experience of searching the web. Based on four years of advanced research in computer science, Google is dedicated to providing the best user search experience by delivering a powerful, yet simple-to-use format for finding the most relevant answers to search queries.

Google currently offers search solutions through its own destination site at www.google.com. The company also offers co-branded search solutions for information content providers. Google, based in Mountain View, Calif., is privately held. Its funding partners include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sequoia Capital. More information about Google can be found on the company's website at www.google.com.