ecec56e6_precursors_to_search_engines

Before search engines as searchable indices of all content on the web, the custom was for ISPs, browsers and websites (e.g. Yahoo!) to provide directories of links to other sites. They functioned as sort of global web-portals.

The Yahoo! homepage from 1999.

The AltaVista homepage from 1999. It has a primitive search engine but also directories of sites.