# Reference.com
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{{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](/source/Online_encyclopedia)|[dictionary](/source/dictionary)|[thesaurus](/source/thesaurus)}}
| language = {{hlist|English|Spanish}}
| owner = [IAC](/source/IAC_(company))
| launch_date = {{Start date and age|1997|2}}
}}
'''Reference.com''' is an [online encyclopedia](/source/online_encyclopedia) that organizes content that uses a question-and-answer format. Articles are organized into hierarchical categories.
Before [IAC](/source/IAC_(company)) restructured the site following an acquisition in 2008, Reference.com also had comprised multiple reference works, and disclosed its sources.
==History==
thumb|left|The old version of the Reference.com logo
Reference.com was launched by InReference, Inc in February 1997.[{{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](/source/Business_Wire)}}{{dead link|date=July 2019|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}] The site was later acquired by Lexico Publishing Group, LLC. In 2005, Lexico announced that Reference.com would begin offering searches of [Wikipedia](/source/Wikipedia) content.[{{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}}]
The popularity of [Dictionary.com](/source/Dictionary.com) had been greatly boosted by [Google](/source/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](/source/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](/source/IAC_(company)) acquired Lexico Publishing Group, LLC and its three properties: Thesaurus.com, Reference.com, and Dictionary.com.[{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN0337985120080703?feedType=RSS&feedName=internetNews|title=Ask.com closes acquisition of Dictionary.com|publisher=[Reuters](/source/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}}][{{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](/source/CNet)|date=4 July 2008}}]
==Sources==
Reference.com reproduced content from external sources.[{{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}}] 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''](/source/CIA_World_Factbook). The site could also search [Usenet](/source/Usenet) groups and other [mailing list](/source/mailing_list)s.[{{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](/source/PC_World_(magazine))|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}}][{{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](/source/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}}]
The encyclopedia had articles from such sources as the 2004 ''Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia'', the ''Crystal Reference Encyclopedia'', and later the [English Wikipedia](/source/English_Wikipedia). Its [online dictionary](/source/online_dictionary) indexed the ''[American Heritage Dictionary](/source/American_Heritage_Dictionary)'', ''[Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary](/source/Easton's_1897_Bible_Dictionary)'', the [Jargon File](/source/Jargon_File), the ''Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary'', [Acronym Finder](/source/Acronym_Finder), ''[Stedman's Medical Dictionary](/source/Stedman's_Medical_Dictionary)'', ''Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary'', the ''On-line Medical Dictionary'', and ''[WordNet](/source/WordNet)''. Its [thesaurus](/source/thesaurus) was based on multiple versions of ''[Roget's Thesaurus](/source/Roget's_Thesaurus)''. The site's [web directory](/source/web_directory) was an interface to the [Open Directory Project](/source/Open_Directory_Project), and its [web search](/source/web_search) feature used [Google Search](/source/Google_Search). An interface to [Google Translate](/source/Google_Translate) was added in 2008.[{{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}}]
==User tracking==
Reference.com in 2010 topped the list compiled by ''[The Wall Street Journal](/source/The_Wall_Street_Journal)'' ranking websites by how many third-party [tracking cookies](/source/tracking_cookies) were added to the user's computer. Reference.com added 234 tracking cookies when encountering a first-time user.[{{cite news |title=Tracking The Companies That Track You Online |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129298003 |work=[Fresh Air](/source/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 }}]
==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)
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Reference.com](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference.com) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference.com?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.