Question
Is the Open Directory Project still important?
The Open Directory Project (ODP or DMOZ.org) has recently received a lot of negative press. Is the ODP still as important as it was?
What is the Open Directory Project?
The Open Directory Project is an Internet directory that started in 1998 as an alternative to Yahoo's human edited directory. When Google began using the ODP as the source for the Google Directory, it was almost guaranteed that a web site received better Google rankings when it was listed in the ODP.
What is the problem with the Open Directory Project?
In contrast to search engines that use software programs to index web pages, volunteer editors read and classify the web sites that are submitted to the Open Directory Project.
Many categories in the ODP don't have a volunteer editor anymore and the editors of the other categories cannot handle all of the submissions they receive. Some categories have a backlog of several months.
Rumor has it that some ODP editors accept money to speed up submissions and that some people became ODP editors just to promote their own web sites.
Is it still worth to submit your web site to the Open Directory Project?
It is still worth to submit your web site to the Open Directory Project but you shouldn't be disappointed if your web site doesn't get through. Many web sites mirror ODP content so a link from the ODP means that many other web sites will also link to your site.
However, there are many other Internet directories that can also have a positive effect on your web site. Don't focus on the ODP alone but submit your web site to many different directories and search engines so that your web site is not dependent on a single source.
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There is some talk of Google giving less strength to directories and went so far to remove from the search results some of the "scrapped directories". Which is a good thing.
Mike
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I think DMOZ is probably worth submitting to, but not worth worrying about after you submit. Depending on the category it can take months for your site to be reviewed and listed or rejected.
So submit it, and forget it.
One other note is that you can end up with a DMOZ listing even if you never submit your site. Someone else might suggest it to DMOZ, or an editor might find it while surfing on their own and list it.
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I submitted a site about 3 years ago, got a notice that it had been approved, but have yet to see it in the directory
As said before, worth submitting, but don't lose any sleep over whether the site is included or not.
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I submitted a site about 9 months ago. Last time I checked it hadn't appeared, but it's been a while since I did.
A few weeks ago there was a spate of online articles and forum posts on loss of impartiality at DMOZ. Here's a blog called Corrupt DMOZ Editor.
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Greetings all...here newbie here...
My view on DMOZ?
The problem with the open directory, is that it isn't truly open. You sumbit your site...that's it. If you're rejected, you may nevery know when or why. If you're accepted...GREAT! NUMEROUS sites use the ODP feed for their local search routines, mainly 'cuz it's free!
Getting accepted into DMOZ can mean tens, if not hundreds of back links, which we know are quintessential for high search rankings in many search engines, GOOGLE probably being the most important. Not saying that that is the only way to do it...but if one were to rank a single directory submission on importance from 1-10, I'd say DMOZ was a 10.
****On a side note, the writer over at spider-food used Pizza Hut as an example of how heavily Google relies on back links for it's rankings. If you look at the Pizza Hut web site, they rank #1 using the search term "pizza", but their site is seemingly VOID of good content! (but they have tons of back links) Go figure....****
I'm still patiently waiting for our web site's approval at the ODP. I have no reason to believe it will be rejected, but it may be YEARS before I find out.
My biggest beef with DMOZ is that after you submit your site, they refuse to give any status of your submission and/or if you're rejected, they may only hint as to why it was rejected. I suppose that's OK, but I believe that there's a matter of trust here. One may ask, "My competition's site got listed, but mine has been rejected...why is that?"
I suppose the simple truth is that there's no changes coming to the ODP, so if you've submitted your site, just press on with other things and HOPE they get around to looking at it.
Cheers
BTW: For those interested, you can check out their forum here: http://resource-zone.com/
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Hey FiberGuy, welcome to here. Interesting post, thanks for the links.