# How do business directory websites get (and maintain) their data? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-business-directory-websites-get-and-maintain-their-data/602870 "2011-11-14T05:37:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-business-directory-websites-get-and-maintain-their-data/602870/1 "2011-11-14T05:37:20Z")
I have an idea for a niche business directory listing website. Something along the lines of say… finding the nearest open coin laundry in your local area. I am just wondering… how do the existing business directory websites of a similar nature collect, and then maintain, their data? ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-business-directory-websites-get-and-maintain-their-data/602870/2 "2011-11-23T04:07:18Z")
Really? _This_ is the **GQ** that finally stumps the Straight Dope? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-business-directory-websites-get-and-maintain-their-data/602870/3 "2011-11-23T05:44:28Z")
Those websites charge a lot of money for that information, so they don’t reveal much to the public about how they get it. However, for a taste, look at one of the leading providers of business information, [Infousa](http://www.infousa.com). According to their web site: “Our databases are built from 4,000+ phone directories and 350+ new business sources such as: • Secretaries of State • County courthouses • Public record notices” Other websites collect information from regular people, like you and me, through third party sites like [gigwalk](http://gigwalk.com/) But that’s just scratching the surface. ---
**Author:** ![FoundWaldo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@FoundWaldo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoundWaldo)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-business-directory-websites-get-and-maintain-their-data/602870/4 "2011-11-23T07:08:50Z")
This is kind of like asking “how does Google find and index websites because I have an idea for a search engine?” The fact that this is hard is the core of why there aren’t many good directory sites. The competitive advantage of good directory is in being able to collect and maintain data better than their competitors. That is the hard part of the business, not the easy part. There are tons and tons of directory sites. Putting up a crappy one is trivial. Unless your niche is so unique that no one else has thought of it (in which case I’d wonder if there’s really a significant market), you’re not going to be competitive by just grabbing the easiest source of data and putting it online. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2011, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-business-directory-websites-get-and-maintain-their-data/602870/5 "2011-11-23T08:20:28Z")
Let’s see – data, right? Well, there’s a base of data = database. But the real answer is plastics. No, that’s not right. Doped silicon. Doped Gallium Arsenside, even. But, really, before his death, Wally Cox was in charge of this sort of thing, with his partner Agnes, before that meddler and sillyheart Marlon Brando got involved. It’s been downhill ever since. ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-business-directory-websites-get-and-maintain-their-data/602870/6 "2011-11-25T00:21:26Z")
Thanks Guys. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-business-directory-websites-get-and-maintain-their-data/602870/7 "2011-11-25T00:23:38Z")
They call. They call over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over…take it from someone that answers the phone at a business and gets at least 1 to 2 calls every single day from some random web directory trying to verify my info. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2011, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-business-directory-websites-get-and-maintain-their-data/602870/8 "2011-11-26T08:50:56Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > They call. They call over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over…take it from someone that answers the phone at a business and gets at least 1 to 2 calls every single day from some random web directory trying to verify my info. I was going to say the same thing. Not only do I answer the phone, but my name and telephone number are the ones that my business uses for all external inquiries. This means that I am constantly being asked if the information is correct. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-business-directory-websites-get-and-maintain-their-data/602870/13 "2016-09-07T14:50:27Z")
Reported.