Sep 26th 2007 9:01PM
The Search For DMOZ
Yesterday the internet was all a flutter with reports and wide ranging theories as to why searches for "DMOZ" in Google were not returning the usual results. If you happened to miss those, I've included a couple of examples that can be found here, here, here and here.
While these made for great headlines and no shortage of comments and link backs...they were 100% off the mark.
Truth is, this is just one of those things that happens from time to time in the world of search.
We made some significant upgrades to our back-end systems to improve the stability of DMOZ. One of those changes required changing the root domain from dmoz.org to www.dmoz.org. What we all witnessed yesterday and what was reported by the great sites above was part of an index recognizing, adjusting and updating in real time. This was confirmed in discussions we had with Google and everything should be running smoothly now.
So go ahead and try a query for DMOZ. And if you don't see our site, clear your browser cache and try again.
Here is a screen grab taken 5 minutes ago.
You can also give it a shot in the search box above ( click the web link & enter query ).
DMOZ is not dying folks. We're growing every day. Globally.
Feel free to use that sound bite from now on in your future posts : )
While these made for great headlines and no shortage of comments and link backs...they were 100% off the mark.
Truth is, this is just one of those things that happens from time to time in the world of search.
We made some significant upgrades to our back-end systems to improve the stability of DMOZ. One of those changes required changing the root domain from dmoz.org to www.dmoz.org. What we all witnessed yesterday and what was reported by the great sites above was part of an index recognizing, adjusting and updating in real time. This was confirmed in discussions we had with Google and everything should be running smoothly now.
So go ahead and try a query for DMOZ. And if you don't see our site, clear your browser cache and try again.
Here is a screen grab taken 5 minutes ago.
You can also give it a shot in the search box above ( click the web link & enter query ).
DMOZ is not dying folks. We're growing every day. Globally.
Feel free to use that sound bite from now on in your future posts : )
Add your comments
Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.
When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.
To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br> tags.
21. Daisy - You mentioned that editors only need to take action once in at least every 4 months.
Will DMOZ ever tighten that up a little?
Also, would DMOZ ever be willing to let everyone know about how long it takes to process editor applications? For those that submitted an app, there is no telling whether the app is approved or declined.... or if it's waiting in line with 1,000 other applications.
Posted at 1:03PM on Oct 1st 2007 by MrStitch
22. @MrStitch, They are low on editors as it is, (recruiting is probably one of the reasons for this blog) putting more time requirements on them would likely only result in more expired editor accounts...and less new sign ups.
You can ask about your editor application at http://www.resource-zone.com they will tell you if it was received, if it was accepted or declined, but they will not tell you why it was declined or how long you have to wait.
Posted at 4:41PM on Oct 1st 2007 by daisy
23. Like any community based project, you can always use more help.
We are currently adding an average of 78 new editors a week. Would certainly love to increase that.
I think all of the attention that ODP/DMOZ is getting now will only help in making that possible.
Posted at 5:32PM on Oct 1st 2007 by bbqgrant
24. One of the main nice to have features is whether application has been approved or denied,
the reason for it and how long it will take to review it.
I added my site http://www.zipdrugs.com twice in the last 9 months and it still not in the index.
Posted at 11:29AM on Oct 2nd 2007 by Zip Drugs legal online pharmacy
25. I'm glad to hear you are hiring more editors. Because I have been dissapointed with my results for DMOZ thus far. I have a quality tutoring website http://crowntutoring.com that I have tried to submit in the tutoring category for the past two years. I noticed that the category has had no editor as long as I have checked and is full of dead links or those that redirect to unrelated sites. I applied to become an objective editor for the category and was denied. I just hope in the future my site will be reviewed or I will be invited to an editor as I have expertise in the industry.
That is all. Glad you guys are back in google.
Posted at 11:31PM on Oct 3rd 2007 by Alex F.
26. Alex F. thanks for your heads-up that we have dead sites in the tutoring category. Will try to make sure some of those dead links get cleared out.
Posted at 10:55AM on Oct 4th 2007 by Alucard
27. >We are currently adding an average of 78 new editors a week.
That's an interesting fact. How many editors are there in total?
Posted at 9:20PM on Oct 6th 2007 by daisy
28. well, with dmoz the most single free important directory on the web,
we are definitely want to see our website listed.
http://www.oneseoasia.com
Posted at 5:55AM on Oct 7th 2007 by seo asia
29. I also wonder if the online pharmacy category has an editor since many links are for pharmacies that sell medications without prescription or advertise sale of prescription medictations to US from other coutries both of which are a violation of federal FDA laws and is therefore illegal.
Also, if someone can tell me what is wrong with my site http://www.zipdrugs.com that it is still not included in Dmoz i would appreciate it.
Posted at 12:45PM on Oct 8th 2007 by Legal online pharmacy
30. Glad to hear DMOZ is back. Thanks to Danny Sullivan for pointing me in this direction. I'll be patient for having our website http://www.voices.com to receive the thumbs up!
This blog is an excellent addition for opening up the lines of communication.
Posted at 10:59AM on Oct 12th 2007 by David
31. Glad to hear its resolved! Good work !
Posted at 5:10PM on Nov 4th 2007 by mazury
32. Hi all,
This blog is a very good thing, and I'm happy to see that DMOZ is well alive and kicking. I'm promoting it through various ways, http://referencement-qualitatif.blogspot.com/2007/02/proposez-vos-sites-lopen-directory.html and there is a need to keep on promoting it again and again so that its quality index get used more and more by "new" internet users. Using a search engine is good, but searching through a directory is definitely more accurate in terms of quality results, simply because it's easy to cheat web bots (so-called "black-hat" SEO tricks), not on humans ;-)
Long live DMOZ !
Posted at 4:54PM on Dec 5th 2007 by Da Code
33. Thanks to AOL and Google for working together to resolve this so quickly.
Posted at 1:18PM on Dec 23rd 2007 by infinity
34. well, with dmoz the most single free important directory on the web,
we are definitely want to see our website listed.
We offer limousine hire in london
Posted at 7:29PM on Dec 24th 2007 by Hartley Rochester
35. Im glad to see everyone here and the new editors, its really growing very fast. Lots of luck.
G. Dixon
Park Place Team
Posted at 2:42AM on Jan 2nd 2008 by Mr G. Dixon