Reference.com

Reference.com is an online encyclopedia that organizes content that uses a question-and-answer format. Articles are organized into hierarchical categories.

Reference.com
Type of site
Available in
  • English
  • Spanish
OwnerIAC
URLwww.reference.com
LaunchedFebruary 1997 (1997-02)

Before IAC restructured the site following an acquisition in 2008, Reference.com comprised multiple reference works, and disclosed its sources.

History
The old version of the Reference.com logo

Reference.com was launched by InReference, Inc in February 1997.[1] The site was later acquired by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. In 2005, Lexico announced that Reference.com would begin offering searches of Wikipedia content.[2]

The popularity of Dictionary.com had been greatly boosted by Google's practice of offering a link at the top of their search results that goes to the Dictionary.com definition. This exclusive relationship was terminated without explanation to the public when the Google links were redirected to definitions at Answers.com. (In December 2009, the Answers.com links were replaced with Google's own dictionary.) Google added a Dictionary.com definition link for certain search words in a non-exclusive relationship (along with links to definitions from a few other commercial reference websites). On 3 July 2008, IAC acquired Lexico Publishing Group, LLC and its three properties: Thesaurus.com, Reference.com, and Dictionary.com.[3][4]

Sources

Reference.com reproduced content from external sources.[5] The site's sources included other online dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a search of terms found on other websites such as Wikipedia and the CIA World Factbook. The site could also search Usenet groups and other mailing lists.[6][7]

The encyclopedia had articles from such sources as the 2004 Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, the Crystal Reference Encyclopedia, and later the English Wikipedia. Its online dictionary indexed the American Heritage Dictionary, Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary, the Jargon File, the Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, Acronym Finder, Stedman's Medical Dictionary, Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, the On-line Medical Dictionary, and WordNet. Its thesaurus was based on multiple versions of Roget's Thesaurus. The site's web directory was an interface to the Open Directory Project, and its web search feature used Google Search. An interface to Google Translate was added in 2008.[8]

User tracking

Reference.com in 2010 topped the list compiled by The Wall Street Journal ranking websites by how many third-party tracking cookies were added to the user's computer. Reference.com added 234 tracking cookies when encountering a first-time user.[9]

References
  1. "Reference.com Goes Live as the Most Comprehensive Internet Forums Service". Business Wire. 10 July 2019.
  2. "Reference.com Expands Content by Adding Wikipedia Encyclopedia to Search Capabilities". Lexico Publishing Group. 15 September 2005. Archived from the original on 25 February 2009. Retrieved 30 October 2008.
  3. Auchard, Eric (3 July 2008). "Ask.com closes acquisition of Dictionary.com". Reuters. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  4. "Ask.com closes Dictionary.com deal". CNet. 4 July 2008.
  5. "About Dictionary.com". Reference.com. Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  6. Tracy Swedlow (12 February 1997). "New Web Service Provides Search Tool for Usenet and More". PC World. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011.
  7. Anthony Ramirez (4 January 1998). "Neighborhood Report: New York Online". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  8. "Translator – An Ask.com Service". Archived from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
  9. "Tracking The Companies That Track You Online". Fresh Air. August 19, 2010. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2010. The one site that installed the most was Dictionary.com. A visit to Dictionary.com resulted in 234 trackers being installed on our test computer, and only 11 of those were installed by Dictionary.com. ... So on Dictionary.com, the vast majority of the trackers (200 out of 234) were installed by companies that the person visiting the site probably had never heard of."
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