Editing Reference.com

{{Short description|Online encyclopedia}}
{{Update|date=August 2018 |reason=}}

{{Infobox website
| name = Reference.com
| logo = Reference-com logo.svg
| url = {{URL|http://www.reference.com}}
| type = {{hlist|[[Online encyclopedia]]|[[dictionary]]|[[thesaurus]]}}
| language = {{hlist|English|Spanish}}
| owner = [[IAC (company)|IAC]]
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|1997|2}}
}}

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

Before [[IAC (company)|IAC]] restructured the site following an acquisition in 2008, Reference.com comprised multiple reference works, and disclosed its sources.

==History==
[[File:Reference-com logo.png|thumb|left|The old version of the Reference.com logo]]

Reference.com was launched by InReference, Inc in February 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-19088675.html|title=Reference.com Goes Live as the Most Comprehensive Internet Forums Service|date=10 July 2019|publisher=[[Business Wire]]}}{{dead link|date=July 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The site was later acquired by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. In 2005, Lexico announced that Reference.com would begin offering searches of [[Wikipedia]] content.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.apkkingz.com/2019/07/google-translate.html|title=Reference.com Expands Content by Adding Wikipedia Encyclopedia to Search Capabilities|publisher=Lexico Publishing Group|date=15 September 2005|access-date=30 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225094122/http://www.lexico.com/about/pr20050915.html|archive-date=25 February 2009|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

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.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} 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 (company)|IAC]] acquired Lexico Publishing Group, LLC and its three properties: Thesaurus.com, Reference.com, and Dictionary.com.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN0337985120080703?feedType=RSS&feedName=internetNews|title=Ask.com closes acquisition of Dictionary.com|publisher=[[Reuters]]|date=3 July 2008|first=Eric|last=Auchard|access-date=1 July 2017|archive-date=4 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220404235851/https://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN0337985120080703?feedType=RSS&feedName=internetNews|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/8300-10784_3-7-0.html?keyword=Dictionary.com|title=Ask.com closes Dictionary.com deal|publisher=[[CNet]]|date=4 July 2008}}</ref>

==Sources==
Reference.com reproduced content from external sources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reference.com/help/about.html|title=About Dictionary.com|website=Reference.com|access-date=24 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080926163417/http://www.reference.com/help/about.html|archive-date=26 September 2008|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> 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|CIA ''World Factbook'']]. The site could also search [[Usenet]] groups and other [[mailing list]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/4239/new_web_service_provides_search_tool_for_usenet_and_more.html|title=New Web Service Provides Search Tool for Usenet and More|publisher=[[PC World (magazine)|PC World]]|date=12 February 1997|author=Tracy Swedlow|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605225254/http://www.pcworld.com/article/4239/new_web_service_provides_search_tool_for_usenet_and_more.html|archive-date=5 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/04/nyregion/neighborhood-report-new-york-on-line-goodbye-to-seinfeld-or-good-riddance.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=4 January 1998|author=Anthony Ramirez|title=Neighborhood Report: New York Online|access-date=18 February 2017|archive-date=29 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029182246/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/01/04/nyregion/neighborhood-report-new-york-on-line-goodbye-to-seinfeld-or-good-riddance.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://translate.reference.com/|title=Translator – An Ask.com Service|access-date=1 October 2009|archive-date=1 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180201193649/http://translate.reference.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tracking The Companies That Track You Online |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129298003 |work=[[Fresh Air]] |date=August 19, 2010 |access-date=14 September 2010 |archive-date=21 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421212032/https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129298003 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|1}}

{{IAC}}

[[Category:Online English dictionaries]]
[[Category:American websites]]
[[Category:Websites which mirror Wikipedia]]
[[Category:IAC Inc.]]
[[Category:Internet properties established in 1997]]
[[Category:Thesauri (lexicography)]]