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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No doubt something is wrong. They reject totally genuine, non-marketing-oriented websites. Its as if all submissions go into a black hole. The links might be valuable but overall its a waste of time.
Submit and forget.
Twitter: travelfromLA
July 26, 2011 at 2:40 pm
Twitter: @travelfromLA
obtaining a dmoz listing is so difficult nowadays but it definitely distinguishes older and more established sites from the newer ones
danielmac would love you to read ..2011-2012 CSU and UC Spring Winter Dates
Twitter: n/a
August 4, 2011 at 3:24 am
Twitter: @n/a
I agree tried it once and it did not even got approved…they have really gone done since they started…
Mexican Drinks would love you to read ..A Simple Quesadilla Recipe
Twitter: stutterwear
June 14, 2011 at 2:00 am
Twitter: @stutterwear
a total waste of time and effort in my opinion..very disappointing service indeed
Buffalo Tees would love you to read ..Buffalo Cool Place T-Shirt
Totally agree with you, it seems imposible to get listed there!
Twitter: y8zone
June 11, 2011 at 1:03 am
Twitter: @y8zone
I think it’s definitely a waste of time and I think submitting a site to DMOZ is more than enough…and if your site is not listed even if you had a quality site then it’s not your problem anymore.
Twitter: matthewacoleman
August 3, 2011 at 2:59 am
Twitter: @matthewacoleman
DMOZ sucks!!i told my friends don’t bother on it coz they wont answer your questions
wny glass block windows would love you to read ..Glass Block Window Showers
Yes, it is good to watch the videos that Matt Cutts is producing, you can see them on Youtube, he has his channel. He is one of the most important people in Google.
So..such places like DMOZ unfortunately are not that important any more. Now, what counts, is a website that has visitors.
Traffic from twitter, facebook,
there is just one trouble with this kind of thinking- websites are like buildings. You cannot rely and diagnose the power of the website based on ephemeral factors, like traffic from the Social media sites. Sometimes the good needs to wait to be discovered, and that is why all sorts of white hat links should be taken into account. Not just the traffic, but also the internal link structure should be considered.
wouldn’t you agree?
thanks
Jim
Twitter: GrowMap
May 11, 2011 at 9:28 am
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Jim,
What most businesses do not understand that I do is that there are many entities intentionally making it difficult for small businesses and individual interests to be found online.
Just as they control all the major media they seek to control what we can and can not find on the Internet. That is why it is imperative for those who see what is going on to use their blogs and influence to encourage the use of independent sites instead of those controlled by what I refer to as The Borg which includes all those under control of the same connected multi-national corporations.
Creating local blogging communities is one excellent way to do that. More details in my post about Local Communities.
growmap would love you to read ..Why Support Collaborating Local Communities
One of the other reasons of being a waste of time is that it is not getting updated on regular basis, this is what i have obserevd
Yes to get the category to submit a website is bit of a search, so one s first goal is to search for the right category, if it is hard to find the category then search for similar web sites and then write down their category. Secondly make sure one has quality content. It shouldn’t be a copy of any other content. It should be error free. The links should not be missing. It is important to have a good web design too.
It truly is a waste of time and they’re way better ways you could be using your skills to improve your rankings. I believe that dmoz submission is a joke this day.
Twitter: n/a
August 3, 2011 at 3:22 am
Twitter: @n/a
exactly..people of Dmoz has does not care and its really a waste to time
Twitter: BacklinksMarket
December 28, 2010 at 6:40 am
Twitter: @BacklinksMarket
hey friends
I actually agree with Ken, when he says that he doesn’t need the link from DMOZ.
If DMOZ doesn’t act logically, but only chooses the sites that comply with its inner policy…well I don’t really see Google paying much attention to them.
What creates the great strength of our sites is its relevancy and the ability to solve the problems. so we have many comments and later many links from Social media…
any thoughts on this?
why does it matter to you to get a link from DMOZ?
thanks, Nicole
Nicole would love you to read ..Network Marketing Opportunities – 5 Must Have Tips for Newbies
Is this site a waste of time too?
If it is, I hope my comment does not get to be!
Twitter: DrifterLab
December 9, 2010 at 8:37 am
Twitter: @DrifterLab
For me, DMOZ has been a complete waste of time. I have applied for the inclusion of more than one site with no success, and waited YEARS for any kind of communication, and they are still not listed. I recently applied to become an editor and was rejected for arbitrary reasons.
Twitter: GrowMap
December 9, 2010 at 3:56 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Matt,
Welcome to the very big club. I was once an Editor there and obviously I should have made sure I kept active because I also have been declined more than once both for listing many sites over the years for clients and myself and as an Editor. If experienced bloggers with quality blogs and influential Social Media accounts are not good enough for them I don’t know who will be.
Thank you for taking the time to comment. If you read the other comments you will see that many just don’t understand what I’m saying in this post – or would like to stay in denial.
You may want to read my posts about keywordluv and CommentLuv. Both can increase traffic to your Free Flash Games.
growmap would love you to read ..How CommentLuv Grows Businesses and Blogs
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/thesofablog
December 8, 2010 at 4:42 pm
Twitter: @https://twitter.com/#!/thesofablog
If you want your site to be listed, just read the guidelines of Dmoz directory and then submit your site according to that. Dmoz guidelines are the most common guidelines for directory submission. Just follow it.
Ken would love you to read ..How to Revamp Your Old Sofa
Twitter: GrowMap
December 9, 2010 at 3:52 pm
Twitter: @GrowMap
Hi Ken,
Do you really believe that all the people who have complained did NOT read the guidelines first? That won’t help. They list what they wish and ONLY what they wish and mostly they ignore the public. That is why almost no one actually looks anything up there – because they don’t care about us.
growmap would love you to read ..Best of GrowMap – Our Most Important Posts All in One Place
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/thesofablog
December 9, 2010 at 5:59 pm
Twitter: @https://twitter.com/#!/thesofablog
Hello:
Actually you’re right. All I want to say is, we’ll just fill out the DMOZ form > submit once > forget about it. If we get in great, if we don’t – great. I really don’t need a DMOZ backlink to rank well.
ken would love you to read ..SOFA in a MOVIE – “Pinoy Sunday”
hey
that’s quite surprising what you wrote. I have recently submitted one of my websites to DMOZ directory, and yes it takes a lot of time, to find the right category and to give them good info on your site.
I remember watching a video with one of the SEO gurus talked about directories, and he was quite convinced that they do not really have volunteers. that DMOZ is probably 2 guys.
Well, anyway, the SEO is changing, Google now looks for different types of links, they appreciate natural links, like created through social media, and directory submissions no longer count. or at least not that much.
thanks
cheers mate
If relevancy is not DMOZ’s primary priority, DMOZ will become a giant hub for a small group of people to satisfy their desire for power. If I submit a site to DMOZ and the editor is my competitor, it just don’t think he/she will be unselfish to include my site.
Twitter: twitter.com/homebaseli
June 24, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Twitter: @twitter.com/homebaseli
DMOz can help but it is not of crucial importance. that directory is old and will be replaced by something better soon
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