FAQs » 19. What is the difference between a search engine and a directory?
Both are a database of websites; however a directory is divided into sections and sub-sections organised by subject categories such as “Arts”, “Business”, “Shopping” etc. The websites are then listed alphabetically in each category, meaning those at the top of the list are not there on merit as with a search engine. A search engine does not have sub-sections and its results are listed according to the most relevant site as opposed to alphabetically.