Sep 24th 2007 3:00PM
Welcome To The DMOZ Blog
Hello and welcome to the new DMOZ blog, the official source for information, insight, and updates about DMOZ, the Open Directory Project ( ODP ).
DMOZ is made up of thousands of passionate, volunteer category enthusiasts and experts from all over the world who donate their time to arrange their respective portion of the web. Thanks to their work, DMOZ is a starting place for browsing and searching the web. DMOZ data is also used by thousands of search engines and web portals to help people quickly and easily find information on the web.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of DMOZ's death have been greatly exaggerated.
The editor community is very much alive and thriving. Thousands of new sites are added and updated every week, and we continue to receive hundreds of editor applications and suggested sites every day.
We thought now was the right time to open the door and start a conversation with the Web community about what's happening with the largest human-edited directory.
We intend to use this blog to:
- Provide authentic messages about DMOZ and the efforts of our volunteer community.
- Highlight enhancements, both current and future.
- Allow editors to showcase their categories and describe, in their own words, why DMOZ is so important.
- Recruit new editors. If you have access to the Web and are passionate about a category, find out how to apply.
Additionally we want to hear from you.
What do you think about DMOZ? Why do you use the directory or data? Is there something you would like to see fixed? When you've been around as long as we have, some people are bound to have great things to say, while others might have a few choice words based on their personal experience. Either way, we want to hear it :)
We plan on posting every week so grab the RSS feed or sign up for an e-mail alert to receive notification of new entries as they are posted.
Bob Keating
Managing Editor, DMOZ Staff
DMOZ is made up of thousands of passionate, volunteer category enthusiasts and experts from all over the world who donate their time to arrange their respective portion of the web. Thanks to their work, DMOZ is a starting place for browsing and searching the web. DMOZ data is also used by thousands of search engines and web portals to help people quickly and easily find information on the web.
To paraphrase Mark Twain, the rumors of DMOZ's death have been greatly exaggerated.
The editor community is very much alive and thriving. Thousands of new sites are added and updated every week, and we continue to receive hundreds of editor applications and suggested sites every day.
We thought now was the right time to open the door and start a conversation with the Web community about what's happening with the largest human-edited directory.
We intend to use this blog to:
- Provide authentic messages about DMOZ and the efforts of our volunteer community.
- Highlight enhancements, both current and future.
- Allow editors to showcase their categories and describe, in their own words, why DMOZ is so important.
- Recruit new editors. If you have access to the Web and are passionate about a category, find out how to apply.
Additionally we want to hear from you.
What do you think about DMOZ? Why do you use the directory or data? Is there something you would like to see fixed? When you've been around as long as we have, some people are bound to have great things to say, while others might have a few choice words based on their personal experience. Either way, we want to hear it :)
We plan on posting every week so grab the RSS feed or sign up for an e-mail alert to receive notification of new entries as they are posted.
Bob Keating
Managing Editor, DMOZ Staff
41. Is DMOZ anything other than a much-abused resource for a select few SEO's to control which of their friends & clients gets links from the directory?
Local listings for categories that have next to nothing in them have been known to take MONTHS to appear. How can anyone even justify the existance of such a rubbish service?
Posted at 8:15AM on Sep 26th 2007 by Farhad
42. thats great to see web 2.0 practice becomes more and more valuable!
Posted at 8:17AM on Sep 26th 2007 by tobto.org
43. Hi, I would like to make the following points:-
Corruption, long waiting times, lack of respect and arrogance from some editors towards webmasters, editors self supporting their own sites and declining competitor sites coupled with zero feed back for declined sites has caused dmoz to suffer credibility issues over the years.
If AOL is serious here about genuinely wanting to make a difference then they need to seriously overhaul the current “volunteer” set up arrangement.
I think that if AOL can work on changing the image of DMOZ (this blog is a great start by the way) by stamping their claim on the directory, being heavily involved in its processes rather than it being left to run its own cause and can clear the deck of some of the existing issues by perhaps a) making editors more accountable for their actions and b) possibly making editors more transparent to webmasters so that we know exactly who we are dealing with and what sites they are connected to, this would lead to significantly improving the quality of the directory and enhancing webmaster relationships and some of the editors integrity would not be in question.
Another good starting point would be the introduction of an AOL staff member who is prepared to put their name to being overall responsible for the directory?. From my own experience as a web designer I hear far too many stories from clients that are running blue chip websites that have been excluded or passed backwards and forwards between data pools in what looks like a clearly engineered plan to avoid their site being listed and they have absolutely no recall or line of management at DMOZ that will take up responsibility and look into the issue
Currently the good editors of the directory are unfortunately grouped with the rogue elements that hold the directory back so the directory needs the firm hand of a blue chip organisation like AOL to bring it back on course.
The comment made by an earlier poster about paying for a listing review is a very good idea. Spamming and junk sites would not be even submitted to DMOZ in the first place if they had to pay a non refundable listing review fee in the same way that Yahoo directory operates. But for this to work, webmasters would need to be assured that their site was A) 100% going to be reviewed accordingly (ideally in a set time scale) and B) it was by an AOL authorised employee that had no relationship or vested interest in the site not being listed and C) if rejected a proper reason given for the decline that the webmaster could work on improving to get their site up to standard for the future. This would not only mean improving webmaster relationships but DMOZ Could become an authority in helping to improve content on the web in general.
I hope my comments prove useful as I would certainly like to see this directory given a lot more credibility than it currently has in the webmaster community but serious attention to it is required in the meantime, a lot of work needs to be done here!
Posted at 9:33AM on Sep 26th 2007 by David Johnstone
44. Hello Brian,
thank you for your post - it's good to know that DMOZ is alive and kicking ... at least somewhere in the world but not in this neck of the woods (I'm talking ITALY).
There is a lot of "talk" about DMOZ here - and it's not the kind you like to hear. This blog could be the opportunity to shed some light and transparency on what is actually being done, why it takes forever to get into DMOZ in Italy, and other things as well ...
Posted at 11:28AM on Sep 26th 2007 by Sante
45. Can DMOZ be a little less mysterious once someone submits a web site for inclusion? The current message is vague and isn't very encouraging that a site will be reviewed anytime soon. I suggest a simple status checking form, where users can see if their site is rejected or pending. Also give some kind of metric of how long until it will be reviewed.
Posted at 11:10AM on Sep 26th 2007 by Jason Bartholme
46. Its nice to see that you guys have come up with a blog. It really nice. I had submitted my site two years ago and still its not listed on your directory i seriously had thought your directory had fallen apart.
good to see some changes....
kshitize
http://www.himalayacrafts.com
Posted at 11:27AM on Sep 26th 2007 by kshitize
47. Sorry about the name mix-up I meant Bob :)
Posted at 11:29AM on Sep 26th 2007 by Sante
48. Your comments: I have used my editor account to post this message maybe someone can
also check for exact reason for my removal, cause i know my removal
was for I run www.dmoz-resources.com . Was that really good ? I added
10-15 sites in education category so i do not see why my removal took
place ? Anyways there are lots of other editors like myself who got
kicked cause some evil meta , i referrer to them as EM's like Motsa
has problems ? Anyways good luck with blog and instead of wasting
time on blog if some time was spent kicking out those corrupt editors
out of dmoz would make life easier for
everyone.http://www.teomandogan.com
Posted at 11:40AM on Sep 26th 2007 by Estetik
49. To an outsider DMOZ is a directory with a long waiting list. The community keeps wondering why it takes so much time. Hope lot of interaction here for a better tomorrow.
R.Milan http://www.athleticsfood.de
Posted at 11:48AM on Sep 26th 2007 by Milan
50. Thank you for adding an interactive section to DMOZ. In addition to communicating specific statuses of our submissions, when a a site is not accepted by DMOZ, a specific corrective action that webmasters must accomplish to be included would be appreciated.
I know DMOZ (and Google) do not like most affiliate sites. However, Google recently purged a significant number of useless affiliate sites, and guess what? My site is still found in their index. Why? Because my site is dedicated to using the affiliate model to raise funding for children's charities. (Yes, 100% is donated.) The site adds value to the larger community. I hope that DMOZ will consider allowing sites like mine into the index.
Sincerely,
Paul Gustafson
paul at cmesi.com
Founder
Children Make Every Shop Important: Free Fundraiser for Children's Charities"
Posted at 7:14PM on Sep 26th 2007 by Paul Gustafson
51. I like DMOZ and tried to apply as an editor for some german categories two times. I was willing to help but never got any answer... So better communication is what this project needs. So this blog is pretty welcomed
Posted at 12:24PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Timo Haberkern
52. I have been trying to get my listing changed, for almost 3 years now, have submitted changes, repetedly, it still the same one it was to start with,.. what gives with this ?
Posted at 2:15PM on Sep 26th 2007 by Esta
53. I like the idea by reprint in #30 to highlight who staff are so there is no confusion between official/non-official responses. Also, bbqgrant is also AOL staff. Great job with the blog!
Posted at 4:24PM on Sep 26th 2007 by Stacy
54. I'm glad to see DMOZ providing a better avenue for webmasters to communicate to clarify submission issues.
I would particularly like to see more information on why sites are removed from DMOz when they have been listed for several years and considered qualtiy sites by Google and other engine. I would also like to know there is a way we can resubmit them without causing a penalty for the site? Without communication we can't tell whether it was a temporary bug in DMOZ or if the site was removed for a reason that we may be able to fix.
Posted at 6:37PM on Sep 26th 2007 by Lorel
55. "Depending on the activity level of the editors in your area, it may take up to 2 weeks or more for your site to be reviewed."
Try never, I've been attempting to add our company site for over 2 years with no response. There is nobody to contact and nothing you can do about getting your site added if your requests falls on deaf ears. The fact that some get accepted very quickly & others don't get accepted at all just outlines what kind of inequalities there are within your project. If it's easy for one, then it should be easy for all. At this point I find it very unlikely that you can correct these inequalities as the entire project has been a long standing mess and the fact that it is still used as the authority of many directories throughout the web is appalling at best!
Posted at 11:06PM on Sep 26th 2007 by Matt
56. Hello,
I want to know what is happening about the site submissions. I submitted my company site in June i think. Nothing was added so far. Is there any change i can contact the category editor? Or any idea how to speed things up? I search the internet and i read that they are many people with the same issue.
Any editor that is available to solve my problem, please feel free to email me.
Thank you,
Posted at 6:51AM on Sep 27th 2007 by filipe
57. Good luck with your blog. I found ODP very helpful many times, I hope this blog will popularize this project and allow you to find more editors, because sometimes it take ages to get listed in Dmoz. Best wishes again!
Sebastian,
Support Manager of
http://www.exoclick.com/
Posted at 8:04AM on Sep 27th 2007 by Sebastian
58. How can I get 10,000+ listings for a site that mostly publishes RSS content from other sites with lots of AdSense like Topix?
Posted at 9:15AM on Sep 27th 2007 by cheekymonkey
59. From your social contract…
"We will make the most comprehensive, user-friendly directory possible, so the content and taxonomy will be widely used and distributed. We will do our best to list web sites in a fair and impartial manner, and consider all user requests and suggestions for improvement."
This just isn’t happening in many areas of the directory, whole sections have been getting smaller through 2007. Valuable sites get submitted and simply ignored in many areas.
Specific example of the problem:
Site for a UK National Company Est. 1899 with 11 Offices submitted to DMOZ March 2004
http://www.bellingram.co.uk to
http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Business_and_Economy/Property/Estate_Agents/
I understand Jim Noble on the 06/Sep/2004 18:05:23 EDT marked the site "Contra charter" and moved it to the queue for the category above and there it has sat for 3 years.
Posted at 9:26AM on Sep 27th 2007 by gpmgroup
60. First, I want to congratulate DMOZ for a your new blog. I agree to other readers that this will certainly keep us updated with the number 1 directory in the web. For SEOs, gaining a spot in your directory means a lot. Again, congratulations and I can't wait to hear more about you.
Liza Francisco, WikiMusicGuide
http://www.wikimusicguide.com/
Posted at 9:45AM on Sep 27th 2007 by liza francisco