LookSmart, who changes business models more often than Imelda Marcos changes shoes, has announced yet another one.

After deciding to be a pay-for-placement directory, then rescinding that within weeks, then deciding to make just businesses pay for listings, then back to free, LookSmart has done yet another U-turn. Their new policy is that all sites must pay, unless they are officially not-for-profit organizations registered by the US government.

All sites -- not just business sites -- must now pay in order to be reviewed. You may pay $199.00 for a review within 48 hours or $49.00 for a review within 8 weeks.

There appears to be no promise of being included in the directory, although perhaps they will change that.

I wrote to LookSmart to ask about non-commercial sites. This is that letter:

From: laisha
To: xxxx@looksmart.net
Subject: Re: Non-Commercial Sites [#xxxxxxx]
Date: 07/31/00 15:41:09
 
I am not a non-profit. I am not registered with any government. Just a
personal page.
 
Am I out of luck?
 
Laisha

And their response:

From: xxxx@looksmart.net
To:  laisha
Sent: Tuesday, August 01, 2000 12:27 PM
Subject: Re: Non-Commercial Sites [#xxxxxxx]
 
Greetings,
 
Unfortunately, yes. You are out of luck. You might consider our $49 listing if you are interested in having your site listed in 8 weeks.
 
Thanks for your interest,
The Express Submit Team

They are also offering many of the major portals multimillion dollar deals (according to a high AltaVista exec, anyway), so I think we'll probably see a lot more portals drop ODP in favor of LookSmart.

Unfortunately, since they now power AltaVista, Excite, and MSN, it looks as if we're going to have to grit our teeth and pay them.