websites.new
Directory methodology
How consent, evidence, domain identity and directory discovery work.
Editorial references
Editors may list a public website with a factual description written from its own homepage, without publishing an assessment. Each listing has a page of its own showing what one request to the public homepage returned, its archive history and its domain identity. These entries are labelled not assessed and do not claim owner verification, permission or endorsement. Operator-owned sites are disclosed. No private reports, scores or findings are imported. Request corrections or removal free of charge at hey@websites.new.
Gradual search releases
Directory listing does not by itself enable indexing. Approved owner profiles are released for search indexing automatically, oldest first, at most ten per rolling seven days, and staff release at most two collections in the same window. Editorial listings ship at most 150 a week. Each release covers the language editions the page has. We review Search Console indexing, duplicates and server health before raising any limit, and staff can revoke a release at any time. All TLD collections start noindex. The limits are our rollout policy, not a Google rule.
Owner permission comes first
A saved site is private. A public snapshot requires domain control, approval of the complete preview and staff review. Directory discovery and search indexing are a separate choice on each new snapshot. Earlier pilot profiles do not opt in automatically.
Evidence before indexing
A directory snapshot needs a description of at least 80 characters, eight distinct pillar findings of at least 40 characters each and at least 16 distinct evidence statements of 24 characters or more. Staff also review relevance and site-specific detail. These are our editorial gates, not a search engine guarantee.
Editorial review before release
Evidence counts are a minimum filter, not proof of useful content. Staff must review original insight, supported claims and dates, honest titles and structured data, and Search Console before each indexing release. TLD collections also need sourced, extension-specific context. A gallery reference or a design award does not grant publication consent or establish a website score.
Freshness and removal
The underlying assessment must have completed successfully within 90 days, and domain verification must still be valid. Old assessments leave discovery until a new snapshot is approved. Withdrawal, account suspension or an archived site removes its entry from search, feeds, collections and sitemaps on the next request. External copies cannot be recalled.
One result, four languages
English, French, German and Japanese use the same approved snapshot. Findings remain in their original assessment language. We do not create a different score for each translation or infer missing observations.
How the assessment is produced
websites.new combines measured public-page signals with AI-supported analysis. The owner supplies the website description and approves the published snapshot; staff review publication and indexing. Staff review does not mean every automated finding was independently reproduced. Findings describe the sampled pages at the assessment date, not a complete audit of the site or business.
What the eight pillars measure
Architecture, Performance, Security, Search, Schema, AI readiness, Editorial experience and Operational health describe sampled public pages. The current legacy method combines measured rules and AI-supported findings; scores can vary between runs. It is not a field Core Web Vitals benchmark, security audit, scam verdict or certification.
Labels and domain identity
Platform and industry labels are supplied by the owner and included in the approval preview. Top-level domain identifiers come from IANA. Public suffixes and registrable domains use the Public Suffix List, including hosted tenant suffixes. For example, co.uk is a public suffix while uk is the top-level domain. Exact hostnames keep separate ownership proofs.
Collections and ordering
Collections explain how to read related examples. They need at least ten eligible entries before we allow indexing; empty collections are not generated. Search results, extra filters and pagination stay noindex. Default order is most recently published, with hostname as a tie-breaker. No sponsor or payment changes scores or organic ordering.
Coverage and corrections
Assessed profiles form an opt-in sample of participating owners, not a census or a representative benchmark. Editorial listings are a separate browsing selection with their own release schedule and never count toward assessment statistics, profile or collection thresholds. Registry and registrar comparisons require separate compatible data. Corrections and removals are free through the dashboard or hey@websites.new.
Sources
IANA snapshot: 2026-10-27