Some Search Engines' Acceptance Guidelines

• Do not submit mirror sites. Mirror sites are sites that contain identical content, but have altogether different URLs.
• Do not submit URLs that contain only the same or similar content as other sites you may have listed in the directory.  Sites with overlapping and repetitive content are not helpful to users of the directory.  Multiple submissions of the same or related sites may result in the exclusion and/or deletion of those and all affiliated sites.
• Do not disguise your submission and submit the same URL more than once. Example : http://www.dmoz.org and http://www.dmoz.org/index.html.
• Do not submit any site with an address that redirects to another address.
• The Open Directory has a policy against the inclusion of sites with illegal content. Examples of illegal material include child pornography; libel; material that infringes any intellectual property right; and material that specifically advocates, solicits or abets illegal activity (such as fraud or violence).
• Do not submit sites "under construction." Wait until a site is complete before submitting it. Sites that are incomplete, contain "Under Construction" notices, or contain broken graphics or links aren't good candidates for the directory.
• Submit pornographic sites to the appropriate category under Adult.
• Submit non-English sites to the appropriate category under World.
• Don't submit sites consisting largely of affiliate links

Some, but not all, examples of the more common types of pages that Inktomi does not want include:

• Pages that harm accuracy, diversity or relevance of search results
• Pages dedicated to directing the user to another page
• Pages that have substantially the same content as other pages
• Sites with numerous, unnecessary virtual hostnames
• Pages in great quantity, automatically generated or of little value
• Pages using methods to artificially inflate search engine ranking
• The use of text that is hidden from the user
• Pages that give the search engine a different page than the public sees (cloaking)
• Excessively cross-linking sites to inflate a site's apparent popularity
• Pages built primarily for the search engines
• Misuse of competitor names
• Multiple sites offering the same content
• Pages that use excessive pop-ups, interfering with user navigation
• Pages that seem deceptive, fraudulent or provide a poor user experience

LookSmart
Site Selection Criteria:
In order to be accepted into the LookSmart directory and distributed across the LookSmart Network, your site must meet certain standards of content and quality. These standards ensure that we provide our partner sites with quality listings and an optimized search experience.

• Your site must be in English and be of use to an audience located in the United States . Sites not appropriate for the United States should be submitted to one of LookSmart's Global Directories.
• Your site must have your own original content.
• Your site cannot contain pornography, pornographic or adult advertising, erotica or adults-only content, gratuitous or graphic violence, material that infringes on or violates someone's rights, defamatory or offensive material, or material that promotes/disseminates illegal activities.
• You are solely responsible for ensuring that the content and activities on your site are in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. To the extent that pharmaceuticals and/or medical devices may be offered or promoted on your site, you certify that you are a licensed health care provider or other entity authorized to prescribe, distribute or otherwise deal in such products under the jurisdictions in which they are sold.
• Your site must be up and running seven days a week and 24 hours a day.
• Your site must not be under construction, and all links must be working.
• Your site must be sufficiently quick to load.
• Your site cannot mirror the content of another Web site, or redirect to another Web site, nor can your site be a doorway to another Web site.
• You may only submit one URL for your business via the Small Business Listing service. To list multiple sub pages from your site, we offer our LookListings option. If this URL limit is exceeded, LookSmart reserves the right to reject additional submissions. Rejected submissions will not be refunded. Please refer to our FAQ for further information.

• Pages with text that is not easily read, either because it is too small or is obscured by the background of the page.
• Pages with off-topic or excessive keywords.
• Duplication of content, either by excessive submission of the same page, submitting the same pages from multiple domains, or submitting the same content from multiple hosts.
• Machine-generated pages with minimal or no content, the sole purpose of which is to get a user to click to another page.
• Pages that contain only links to other pages.
• Pages of which the primary intent is to redirect users to another page.

Attempts to fill AltaVista's index with misleading or promotional pages lower the value of the index for everyone. We do not allow URL submissions from customers who spam the index and will exclude all such pages from the index.

Lycos
Please review these guidelines before submitting your site. Sites not meeting these guidelines will not be considered for inclusion in the directory.

• Your site must be in English and be of use to an audience located in the United States .
• Your site should have original content.
• Your site cannot contain material that infringes on or violates someone's rights, or material that promotes or disseminates illegal activities.
• You are solely responsible for ensuring that the content and activities on your site are in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. To the extent that pharmaceuticals and/or medical devices may be offered or promoted on your site, you certify that you are a licensed heath care provider or other entity authorized to prescribe, distribute or otherwise deal in such products in the jurisdictions in which they are sold.
• Your site must contain sufficient pages and recognizable content.
• Your site must be up and running 7 days a week and 24 hours a day.
• Your site should not be under construction, and all links must be working.
• Your site must be quick to load.
• Your site cannot mirror or redirect to another Web site.
• Your site must not attempt to "spam", i.e. deliberately interfere with our search relevancy algorithms.

For details of other search engine and directory acceptance guidelines, go to their individual websites

Learn more about Search Engines here