In one of my most popular posts in the short existence of SEOpittfall.com “Why DMOZ Sucks and Wikipedia is Nothing More Than a Blog”, I had some very direct comments regarding the Open Directory Project:
DMOZ is a wonderful idea, however, it is inherently flawed.
I must say that I would have to rephrase some of the remarks I made (changes highlighted with deletions with new responses bold):
Wikipedia and DMOZ are not the most valuable resource for research on the Internet, search engines are. I am not implying that the results returned are more relevant, however, there is much more information from other sources that is not included in Wikipedia and DMOZ, however, because the editors of Wikipedia and DMOZ choose what is, and more importantly, what is not contained in the listing, it should not be valued any higher than any other website on the given topic (or any blog for that matter)!
I am not saying that you should immediately request your listing from either be removedI would recommend that everyone should request that their listings should be removed,butand I think that the search engines should consider the facts and devalue these sites because they are becoming less relevant and they do notappear to beworkingon improving themselves in any way.
Do I have a strong, deep-rooted, opinion on this topic? ABSOLUTELY!
Case in point:
Shoemoney.com (if you are not familiar, I suggest you stop by), was removed from the “almighty” directory after being approached through an email expecting a payout of $5,000 to remain in the directory. The response, nothing, is something that I would have done myself. However, not long after, the website was removed.
Does Shoemoney belong in the directory? This may be questionable, however, the way it was done was nothing more than criminal.
You might say: What’s the big deal?
Here was Shoemoney’s response:
If any verifiable DMOZ META editor would like to come on my radio show live and discuss what happened contact me jeremy@ you know where. I have nothing to hide… what do you ? You can listen to my previous shows and see I have never sandbagged anyone and I don’t have my finger on a edit button (I have no more control of the show then you do).
Is this link-bait? Maybe, however, it doesn’t change my opinion that DMOZ should be removed from the Internet.
What do you think?
Is DMOZ relevant anymore?
Related Posts >>
- Did Google Drop the Open Directory
- Why DMOZ Sucks and Wikipedia is Nothing More Than a Blog
- DMOZ Submissions Are Functioning
- The DMOZ Blog Opens
- Asleep at the Wheel – The Demise of the Open Directory
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
So, where in the records at archive.org, or elsewhere, do you see the site as ever being listed at the ODP?
Ah, a feed URL was listed for just a couple of weeks, and that was more than 6 months ago.
The HTML site has never been listed at any time in the last 4 years.
Further digging reveals that the ODP banned the site from ever being listed, way back in 2005. There is much comment about that on several forums.
It soon also becomes apparent that the webmaster has already been aware that he is banned, and has been aware of that for more than 2 years.
So it looks like there is a big problem here?
How can someone who already knew that the sites were never going to be listed, now claim that someone threatened to remove stuff from the directory – stuff that was never in the directory.
It is a fake story.
Show us that there was anything in the directory to BE removed.
There wasn’t.
Dave,
First, I would like to thank you for your comment. I am sure that you could reasonably expect a rash response or flat removal of you comment, however, you have a valid point (and that is more important and I don’t feel that it should be edited)!
I can neither confirm or deny your allegations or Shoemoney’s (as stated above). However, it does not change my opinion that the ODP, noble cause and all, has survived well beyond it’s use by date.
What I am not saying:
I’m not saying that the idea or ideals of the ODP are not valid or valuable.
What I am saying:
The method is far beyond it’s prime and the ODP has outlived it’s usefulness in it’s current form.
The better question still remains:
Can dmoz (also known as ODP) recover from the years of neglect?
Please Note:
I find it a rather unfortunate thing when people go as far as to write a valid comment and yet fail to leave a correct email address for response. Dave apparently doesn’t want to open a forum on this topic… this too is unfortunate! I love to discuss topics and really enjoy a debate on occasion, that is why I open comments to everyone.
Dave, if you happen to come back to check my response to your comment, I would like to welcome you back and also to give you the opportunity to respond to my comment. If you feel that you don’t want to do so in this particular forum, feel free to email me directly: stephen.pitts@gmail.com
Now back to your regularly scheduled program
Yet another blogger duped by Shoemoney to get a link back.
On his site Shoemoney says ‘Please make sure you have read this disclaimer before acting on this post.’
The disclaimer says ‘You should assume everything written on this blog is a lie. You should assume I have motivation for linking to everything on this page and will benefit from it somehow. … You should come up with your own thoughts and opinions and not trust some stupid blogger.’
Seems there are a look of stupid bloggers out there.
Eric,
I was not “duped” to give a link to Shoe… and in recognition of your comment regarding his disclaimer, you may want to view mine too: commenting policy.
If you feel that I am one of the “look of stupid bloggers” feel free to correct your grammar before commenting.
However, if you would like to discuss the topic, rather than go on about a rant on Shoemoney, then your comments are welcome.
I didn’t see http://www.shoemoney.com listed in the last couple of months but I did have a conversation with someone well known in the affiliate world who was a DMOZ editor (he went inactive) and he stated that he published http://www.shoemoney.com in DMOZ and someone else removed recently.
And yes, shoemoney takes every opportunity to link bait but that doesn’t mean the storiy is not true.
This is an interesting article. DMOZ does get a lot of disdain due to their slow processing times (or not processing at all). They are terribly understaffed, and even a past CEO stated that in order for DMOZ to move into the future and follow its standards the editors should be paid.
As a DMOZ editor, I can assuredly tell you that there are not enough editors to cover the HUGE directory. The reason it takes so long to get listed is that it is completely volunteer-driven, and people work on it in their spare time. The costs would be far too great if they were to hire editors to cover all the categories, thus they would have to close. If more people volunteered, things would get done faster.
Also, keep in mind that DMOZ clearly states in their TOU…
As to the claim of demanding $5,000…I have a hard time even considering that as a possible scenario.
DMOZ is still a useful directory, but they have high standards, which pisses some people off… (Usually the same people who submit the their URL 50 times over 3 months and wonder why their site isn’t getting listed.)
I think DMoz is quite good directory to submit your website and get abacklink from authority website. I would love to have my website listed in DMoz and drive traffic.
One wouldn’t say that DMoz period is over as this website is still growing and moving forward. This is the best directory on the internet.