Just today Chris Crum of WebProNews asked Do You Respect DMOZ after 11 years? The Official Happy Birthday DMOZ announced by AOL is June 8, 2009. Although DMOZ was once a quality directory, the reason for their declining favor can be summed up in one word: attitude. That attitude comes through clearly in their R-E-S-P-E-C-T- for DMOZ post and the responses to comments there.
DMOZ IGNORES REQUESTS:
“I saw a definition on the Alternate Webmaster Glossary (http://www.experienced-people.co.uk/1099-webmaster-glossary/) of ODP: That place where you submit a site and forget about it. (And they forget about it too). That’s what webmasters think of the ODP.”~ Will in comments in that DMOZ respect post mentioned above~
DMOZ ATTITUDE
According to DMOZ, it is always YOUR fault if you don’t get listed because you obviously did not follow their rules. You must have made a mistake. You just aren’t “good enough”. While I am certain they do get many submissions that are poor, using their rules as an excuse to reject or ignore quality sites is unwise at best and a major cause for their impending demise at worst.
BECOME A DMOZ EDITOR
Any visit to DMOZ makes it obvious there is a shortage of editors. There is a very good reason for that. Many suggest becoming a DMOZ editor is one way to finally get that elusive DMOZ listing you desire. Many claim that doesn’t work:
DMOZ rejects new editors without explanation and rarely responds or adds new websites submitted by users to categories. ~ Comment from Jeff Reason ~
I wanted to give DMOZ a fair test so I applied to become an editor. Apparently I am not talented enough to volunteer my time as the application was declined. I did definitely disclose all Web sites I am involved with so that isn’t the issue. If you still want to give it a try read The Secret to Getting Listed at DMOZ and Submitting a Successful DMOZ application.
While we originally did not know whether the charges of corruption at DMOZ were accurate; they certainly are abundant. It is really hard to argue against that accusation given what happened to ShoeMoney. Not only is ShoeMoney still not listed there are only 23 listings in the Affiliate Weblogs category where he once appeared. The PleasantonWebDesignBlog post DMOZ is Corrupt and the comments in it are representative of many we’ve read elsewhere. Here are even more concerns about DMOZ Editors.
Chris Crum at WebProNews asks Does Dmoz Still Have a Place in Search? They seem to be telling us they don’t. After thorough research we have concluded that although a DMOZ link is still considered valuable, DMOZ is largely a waste of time. Apply once carefully following their rules if you wish and then, as Will suggested, forget about them.
QUALITY SITES DMOZ IGNORED or REJECTED:
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I guess DMOZ does not matter anymore. Back in the days it might have been great but today, it’s close to being irrelevant. Nice try on that RESPECT post though. LOL
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Terry,
Their links still matter and it is truly unfortunate that they care so little for the only people who care about using their site – people who want listings. The general public doesn’t commonly know about DMOZ.
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In my opinion, the fact that the common people does not know about them is their downfall. DMOZ is like an online yellow pages right? I don’t know how many people uses directories to search for things they want info about but I’m pretty sure that there are very few of them.
DMOZ should reinvent itself if it wants to be taken seriously again.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Terry,
They’re not really like yellow pages; they are more like the original Yahoo Directory (as opposed to most search engines which are actually indexes).
What they most need to reinvent is their attitude!
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Select Keywords First to Make Your Content Easy to Find
HI Dude .Thank for sharing for sharing news with us..
Thank You Once again..
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Mohibkh,
I always share what I learn and I do give every business the benefit of the doubt. I will submit sites to DMOZ and then forget them. If they get listed they do and if they don’t, oh well.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Watch Out for Recent WordPress Gumblar PHP Exploit
DMOZ are so whatever now.
Lisa’s last blog post..thumbs UP a great review
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Lisa,
Yes, DMOZ has chosen a bad attitude. Perhaps they’re reconsider with all the bad Press they’ve been getting lately and over many years now. I’m not going to hold my breath though as this isn’t the first nor will it be the last post explaining to them that their attitude is ruining their site.
I’d love to know more about what your Reviews site is about. You may want to add a tagline (slogan) in your header so when someone drops in they know what you write about there. I did find out by visiting your about page but most people won’t go looking. Use a short version of this for your slogan:
Something like this would work:
Movies, Games, TV & Books Reviewed by People Just Like YOU!
For my readers: “Flipcurve is a great place to read reviews and blogs from people just like you from all over the world. Movie, Games, TV and Book reviews (plus anything else we like) written by real-world bloggers doing it for fun and not for money. Right now its just the beginning of a website.”
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Intelligent Bloggers to Consider Reading
Couldn’t agree more, got a site listed on DMOZ about 8 years ago, have tried about 20 more sites since then – but nothing.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Lou,
Years ago it wasn’t that hard to get a site listed. Thank you for sharing your experience. The more people know about the odds of getting listed the better they can gauge whether they want to spend time in the effort.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Be Pro-Active and Take Calculated Risks
Not sure if its really a “waste of time,” since a DMOZ “Open Directory Project” link replicates itself over the years: there are now literally HUNDREDS of cloned directories using DMOZ data, and my link keeps getting added to these sites on a daily basis, without my doing anything.
Yes, its frustrating when you have to wait (my site waited 12 months to be listed, and this was back in 2001-2002) — but its definitely worth it to be listed (its free, after all).
Two years ago, I became an “editor”at the “MusicMoz” site, a junior version of DMOZ that is for the music industry (www.musicmoz.org) — and I can honestly tell you that anyone who applies in MY category (Sacramento music and DJs) will be admitted, as long as they submit a relevant site!
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Matt,
They ARE valuable links IF you can get them. I’m not suggesting that businesses not submit – just that stressing out over it isn’t worth it. Comments at WebProNews from one person indicated that the way they got sites in was to submit them hundreds of times.
While their guidelines specifically warn against doing that it could work. Even the most stubborn might finally decide listing your site beats having to delete your submissions over and over and over.
Even though I would not normally advocate doing something like that I can’t really blame them and it is DMOZ’s behavior that has created that situation. If they could just see what is happening from the perspective of those interested in getting listed perhaps their attitude would change.
Your editing at MusicMoz is how it should be. Any legitimate, relevant site should be listed.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Select Keywords First to Make Your Content Easy to Find
I have heard of plenty of people who submit legitimate, high PageRank, professional websites and follow all the DMOZ submission rules and still don’t get listed even a year later. I still think that a DMOZ link is very valuable, but nearly impossible to get. And becoming an editor also seems fairly impossible, even though they have a shortage of editors.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Jane,
I totally agree with you. You have clearly stated the DMOZ bottom line.
I’m glad you dropped by. I’ve saved your Web site as one to potentially feature on my new healthy living blog at PSPLiving.com.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Freelancer Challenges – Logo Graphic Designers
yeah, I agree with you terry, today,the dmoz close to being irrelevant
john’s last blog post..Forum Support bisnis di internet
Twitter: @GrowMap
Welcome John. Glad to see you here. Yes, DMOZ is becoming irrelevant by their own actions. Only they can fix the issues they have created.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..How to Create a Successful Blog Based Business Part 1
Twitter: @thespotter
DMOZ is becoming nearly impossible to get approved for, assuming you even manage to find a category that has active editor. A shame that Google still pays so much attention to it
Alex’s last blog post..Learn How. Make Money Blogging Is Easy!
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Alex,
Yes, any site run this badly should not be important for ranking at Google. Did you read the comment from Matt about DMOZ feeding cloned niche DMOZ directories? That would be valuable to many and makes this situation all the more distressing.
I have yet to see any indication that DMOZ is listening to the feedback they are receiving. Since their service still provides value they could reservse the damage and become effective again by changing their attitude, accepting editor applications, and getting the quality sites that are being submitted listed.
InternetStrategist’s last blog post..Be Pro-Active and Take Calculated Risks
Twitter: @miyakayusheto
Submitting to DMOZ is a “fire and forget” submission. All of the editors are volunteers and many of the categories do not have an individual editor assigned to them. This means that higher level editors have to cover an entire category and all of its sub-directories. It can take upwards of 6 months or longer for your submissions to be approved.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Welcome to GrowMap, Miyaka,
DMOZ would have a lot more editors if they didn’t keep declining applications. If someone like me is not qualified who is? The problem isn’t how long it takes as much as it is that it is a black hole. Those who apply never know if their listing is still pending or has been declined or discarded.
I don’t think I wasted so much time by doing DMOZ submission. I mean I heard a lot that being listed in their directory is nearly impossible. So, I didn’t spent much time to fill the submission form. However, I totally agree with people around here that you should just “fire and forget”.
Manop’s last blog post..PowerShot SD960 (with 2GB SD Card and Mini Tripod) @ Buydig : $299 Free Shipping
Twitter: @GrowMap
Welcome Manop,
Glad to see you here. Yes, applying and hoping for the best but not investing too much time or effort in getting listed is the way to go.
Getting a website listed in DMOZ can be very frustrating. We know that being listed will probably help our Google rankings, but getting in can take a very long time. Besides, not many people actually use DMOZ for searches in the same way that Yahoo! is used, so the directory itself is of little value in generating traffic.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Mark,
Probably very few actually use DMOZ for search. While getting a quality site into it would be a good thing for search rankings and spin-off niche DMOZ sites we can only apply and hope for the best.
Twitter: @imstrategies
I have never wasted my time with them, I hate that whole elitist thing and in the end all that really matters is SERP rank, and it’s not like you can’t get it without them.
JR’s last blog post..Internet Marketing – The Money and Traffic Is In The Images
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi JR,
They are really more important for business – and it is businesses that have the toughest time getting listed. It is unfortunate that DMOZ doesn’t seem to want to make any improvements in their approval process or their attitude.
Getting into a high level category is still worth it if you are targeting niche terms.
Re. respect for DMOZ. I don’t think there are many people who respect it. Directories are not really much part of the web because they are not coming up with anything interesting. All it is, is a title and a line or two of text. They need to really expend the listing – create something of a human-edited wiki of categorically ordered sites. An example of a directory that take a bit more effort is seoconsultant.com. The information provided in that is actually of substance.
David’s last blog post..How to Stop Your WordPress Blog Getting Hacked
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi David,
I agree that DMOZ doesn’t offer much to attract actual visitors. A directory with the type of expanded listings you suggest is best – and that is a great niche for anyone interested in building a site for a particular subject or location.
Since DMOZ does not seem to be able to get even their limited listings up in a timely manner – or ever in many cases – expanding what they offer is highly unlikely. That is why many niche spin-offs exist. Targeted niche sites make excellent resources so there is always room for those.
The only reason DMOZ is still alive is because of longevity. Any new site run so poorly would never get off the ground!
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..Select Keywords First to Make Your Content Easy to Find
In 9 years our web design/hosting/multimedia company has NEVER been able to get a single site we’ve built and/or hosted listed in DMOZ. Some of our people have even applied to be an editor with absolutely NO response whatsoever… not even a “thanks, but no thanks.”
Once upon a time a DMOZ listing was an SEO essential, now its just a fairy-tale… and like all fairy-tales its a nice bed-time story but not very practical for use in the real world.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Welcome to GrowMap Darek,
This is my favorite comment about DMOZ so far. Their business model is obviously broken and they show no signs of caring about fixing it.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..How to Add Your Free Business Listing to infoUSA
For me DMOZ doesn’t exist. I haven’t submitted to DMOZ in last two years. I regularly see DMOZ editors ’selling’ guaranteed listings so all the charges of corruption are not incorrect. ShoeMoney not being in affiliate category for a directory is a shame for the directory.
What’s your favorite directory nowadays? (Free or paid?)
John Berry’s last blog post..Top 10 Interesting Books to Read This Summer
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi John,
Yes, the ShoeMoney incident is a serious issue that DMOZ would have to address. I doubt they’re going to change so it is up to other sites – notably Google – to take action. Corrupt directories should not be getting credibility or be rewarded.
As you know there are many types of directories. The one I use most frequently is http://local.yahoo.com. When I want a phone number or address or am seeking a new business to patronize I look there first.
When I want to research or find information rather than a specific business I use http://DuckDuckGo.com and the blog search at http://Zuula.com. My ideal search engine would be to be able to search DuckDuckGo using Zuula blog search OR to have a blog search function in DuckDuckGo (which would eliminate my use of Zuula).
I very rarely use any other directory or search engine. I am absolutely thrilled that DuckDuckGo provides better search results than Google so I don’t use them any more except for image search.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..How to Get Your Free Business Listing in Yelp
Yet Dmoz is the best source for getting relevant results.
Twitter: @GrowMap
While they may be relevant they are definitely NOT comprehensive. At least some of the very best sites have been deleted because they would not pay up. Many excellent sites are unable to get listed. Perhaps that is what DMOZ is all about – only listing those who are willing to pay corrupt editors. Makes me wonder if they declined my application because I am too ethical to fit in.
Internet Strategist’s last blog post..How to Add Your Free Business Listing to infoUSA
I think DMOZ is still popular but its clearly declined in the face of other more popular sites and ways of communicating. It just goes to show you that sites like myspace and twitter may seen great now but they need to listen to users and keep up with their needs or another site will replace them.
kris@morgage refinance calculator´s last blog ..Morgage Refinance calculator break even analysis
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hello Kris,
The decline of DMOZ is their own doing. Most companies do not listen to their users; however, those that do will be more likely to succeed.
Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Add Your Business to Merchant Circle
That’s some disappoint info from DMOZ. I always wanted my site to be aded in their listing since i really think that they are one of the best. But i guess it is not now.
Thanks for the article.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Some do get lucky and get their sites listed so there is a small chance if you are very careful to follow their rules.
Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..How to Add Your Business to Merchant Circle
Twitter: @marketraise
It was often said that for Directory submission , getting listed in DMOZ is very much essential as far as link building is concerned.DMOZ listing helps get a site listed with Google and other search engines.But now we come to hear mixed reviews about DMOZ.Moreover after getting listed in this directory there is no guarantee that you receive a backlink from them.It does not carry any additional weight.
Martin@HR Outsourcing´s last blog ..Joomla and its Advantages
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Martin,
While it is good if you can get it since many businesses have repeatedely struck out trying to get listed we can’t really call it “essential” any more. It is unfortunate that they do not step up and resolve the issues they have. They certainly could if they chose.
Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..ppcSummit Seminar Discount Extended to Sept 1, 2009
Sorry. Can someone explain what a SERP ranking is? How do I find mine and what is its importance? Thanks in advance.
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Martin,
SERP means Search Engine Results Pages (or Positions – depending on who you read). These posts will assist you in understanding:
Understanding PageRank and SERPs
What Google Selects for the Snippets in the SERPS
Google Search Snippet Optimization Tool
If you have any other questions feel free to ask.
Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..ppcSummit Seminar Discount Extended to Sept 1, 2009
not sure that its really a waste of time.for directory submission its very useful getting listed in DMOZ its helps in linking building.
Twitter: @Emanprinting
Thanks for information. This information is really helpful for me.
This information is help me for link building.