As the numerous responses to my first post show, this is one of the most common and controversial questions asked about DMOZ.
To answer this question, it is important to consider what DMOZ isn't.
DMOZ is not set up as a listing service for site owners. Site submissions are only one source for finding quality sites to add to the directory. Some editors choose to review submissions while other editors might prefer to (at first) find sites on their own through search engines, as links from related sites, in newspapers, on television, on highway billboards, etc. So...there are no guarantees that once you submit your site it will be reviewed within a specific amount of time.
There are also a number of practical reasons it can take a while for a site to get listed in DMOZ:
The site is submitted to an incorrect category. Many sites are submitted to categories that are either too broad, too narrow, or unrelated to the content of the site being submitted. Most of the time, incorrectly submitted sites are sent to the appropriate category for review, but that will usually increase the amount of time that a site will ultimately wait for review. Submitting your site to the single most specific category relative to your site's content will significantly improve your chances of getting your site reviewed.
The site is submitted to the wrong language section of the directory. For example, non-English sites are frequently submitted to the English-language section of the directory. As with sites submitted to the wrong category, editors have to redirect these sites to the correct language, which can increase the amount of time that they will await review.
The submitted site does not meet submission or editorial guidelines for inclusion. Quite often people submit sites that are incomplete, don't contain enough content, or consist primarily of syndicated or mirrored content. Uniqueness of content is one of the most important factors editors consider when reviewing a site for inclusion.
The category has a backlog of submissions. This can result when the popularity of the topic, which may attract large numbers of both listable and unlistable sites, doesn't match the interests of active or prospective editors. Submitting to one of these categories may mean a longer wait. (That doesn't mean you should submit your site to the wrong category just because you think it doesn't have a backlog – deliberately submitting your site to the wrong category is never a good choice.)
URBAN LEGENDS ( i.e. popular & fictional reasons ) as to why a site does not gain acceptance into
The category editor is corrupt and/or a competitor is keeping the site from being listed. DMOZ regularly receives allegations of corruption and abuse through its public abuse reporting system. Each report is thoroughly investigated and crosschecked. Most of these claims turn out to be baseless. In the rare case where there may be some truth to the allegation, the matter is dealt with immediately.
No one is monitoring the category. While a few categories in DMOZ may not have a listed editor that doesn't mean there's no one minding the store. All editors listed higher in a category's hierarchy can and do edit subcategories. In addition, many editors have permissions to edit anywhere in the directory.
I'm certain there will be no shortage of comments to this post, but please consider the topics listed above and re-check your submission application again.
And if/when you do submit, please...please....please avoid any claims/jokes/sarcasm of offering money to get accepted into DMOZ. Editors apply zero sense of humor to these types of statements and it is a sure fire way to ensure your site does not gain entry. Ever.
One of my future posts will include best practice recommendations for suggesting sites to editors.
Cheers.
Bob Keating
Managing Editor, DMOZ Staff
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1. This definitely does help understand why submissions do/do not get added. However is it really too much to ask for page that lists the current status of your submission? require an account for submitting sites and then allow us to see why a site was not added or to see that it hasn't been reviewed?
I'm sure that when an editor chooses not to accept a site, that request is not simply deleted from your records. And if it is, i would strongly recommend you change your practices so there is some type of editor accountability.
Posted at 5:25PM on Oct 8th 2007 by Brian Harris
2. @Urban legends , its not a myth or a legend, bob i doubt you have time nor the resources to monitor every editors activities right ?
But here are few links, with some editors bidding for getting site listed :More links available if you search for term "dmoz" in the search field.
enjoy bob. Lets see if my comment stays here this time. cause i want some clarification's just like others.
Posted at 6:42PM on Oct 8th 2007 by Dmoz-resources
3. That's right, it's not an urban legend. Sites are being kept out of the directory by corrupt editors, and if a report is made nothing happens.
Also sites are not added because there are less than 8000 editors trying to cover over 590,000 categories. That means not only is there a huge backlog but it's extremely easy for corrupt editors to go undetected.
And those 8000 editors are only required to make one edit every four months...and that edit does not have to be adding a site, it can be something like just rewording a description. Again very easy for an editor to keep competitors out.
Plus dmoz has an official Social Contract with the Web Community which states "We will make every effort to evaluate all sites submitted to the directory." That is a direct contradition to this statement "...editors choose to review submissions while other editors might prefer to (at first) find sites on their own..."
Posted at 11:03PM on Oct 8th 2007 by daisy
4. @ daisy.. Yup.. Offering to pay is enough to get a permanent ban on "your" website.. It's a brilliantly simply way to keep your competitors out of DMOZ.. It's keeping Shoemoney out..
Posted at 11:55PM on Oct 8th 2007 by Feydakin
5. Shoemoney.com is not included b/c the site owner offered money to be included in the directory.
Ironically, he's not being excluded for making baseless extortion claims against a community of volunteers, but that would be a great reason as well.
DMOZ Resources & Daisy....please go away.
There other forums where you two can distract people with conspiracy theories and dated, boring DMOZ hate.
Posted at 9:32AM on Oct 9th 2007 by Chubacabra
6. I tried twice to submit my site and both times it would not match the characters I saw in the box at the bottom. They are difficult to read, but I am certain I typed them correctly on the refreshed page the second time I submitted it. Is there a problem with this part of the submission page?
Posted at 10:28AM on Oct 9th 2007 by David Wise
7. My website used to be listed in DMOZ as http://myurl.co.uk for some time. Approx 12 months ago I request that the www portion of the URL be added to the listing.
Within a few weeks my listing had vanished. Now within the same category another user owns and operates the .COM version of my website and it is displayed in full.
I have requested (no less than 5 times) to have my website re-listed but it never appears, nor does I ever receive a reason why. I do suspect that one of my competitors is in charge of the category and purposely keeping my site from being listed, but this I cannot prove.
Posted at 12:03PM on Oct 9th 2007 by CaptainKirk
8. been trying to submit a site several times today ... even tho typing the code in exactly - it keeps telling me I did not do it right.
Tried refreshing, tried different time of day... still won't let me past
Posted at 1:25PM on Oct 9th 2007 by Susan C
9. Re: #2
How do you know these are real editors? Because they say so? We frequently get complaints about SEO's masquerading as editors, and guaranteeing a DMOZ listing, but in reality they just take people's money and deliver nothing. Through public reports, we discover these individuals are not, nor were they ever DMOZ editors.
Posted at 2:47PM on Oct 9th 2007 by Bob Keating
10. LOL I just had a look at this directory (though i could have looked at many, this one was picked at random)
http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Multimedia/Software/Macromedia_Flash/FAQs,_Help,_and_Tutorials/
The vast majority of links in here refer to flash 4.. i.e this hasn't been checked or updated in over 6 YEARS!!! 6 YEARS!!!
Bob Keating, please justify why editors like *editor* are a fit and proper person to be an editor of a category that hasn't had the idlest 5 minutes of attention in many a year.
If you can't maintain a few directories e.g about core web topics of interest to many of your audience (who I dare say are web developers) then what hope or point is there?
Posted at 6:07PM on Oct 9th 2007 by Mark Anders
11. I agree with Brian, because most of us are / have been told that our submissions drop back to the bottom of the pile, and re-submitting will set us back to the bottom also. I have followed all of the guidelines but I haven't had my site added and have not re-submitted after about a year, mainly because I do not want my site "sent to the back of the line" so to speak.
Unless there is some way to check on the status of our submission....and we're afraid to re-submit and having our site moved back, there is no way for legitimate quality site owners to IMPROVE what they are doing, or even care about the Open Directory Project at all, really.
Posted at 6:17PM on Oct 9th 2007 by Lori
12. "have not re-submitted after about a year" Suggest it again if that is the case. All sites in unreviewed were lost in the crash last year, with a few from near the date of the crash being recovered. If your site is not listed and it was suggested before the middle of January 2007 (when suggestions were opened again),it is very likely not in the unreviewed queue.
Posted at 8:47PM on Oct 9th 2007 by bldarter
13. If your site was suggested before the middle of January 2007 (when suggestions were re-opened after the crash), then you should suggest it again. It is probably not in the unreviewed queue. All sites in unreviewed were lost in the crash last fall. A very few from right around the time of the crash were recovered.
Posted at 8:59PM on Oct 9th 2007 by bldarter
14. Oops, I thought my first comment was lost due to a glitch in my computer. Anyway, the second comment reads better :)
Posted at 9:01PM on Oct 9th 2007 by bldarter
15. Yep, it's very difficult for some of us to get our sites into Dmoz, but i don't really find it very important.
Posted at 12:58AM on Oct 10th 2007 by il maistro - tecnologia
16. bldarter: Thanks for the info, I will have another go at it.
Mr. Keating:
Sorry my criticism of this blog was edited out of my above post. DMOZ really shouldn't edit out negative comments if you do want to communicate and clear up myths.
Posted at 5:30AM on Oct 10th 2007 by Lori
17. To me, as a user, the fact that an enormous number of categories are polluted with spam, dead domains, and adsense sites speak volumes to me in regards to a decent site's chance getting added to the directory, or whether any editor is paying attention at all.
How is a searcher supposed to find an operating site in your directory that would have any relevance for what I am looking for?
It's impossible to find what isn't there. It just defies logic to assume that a searcher is going to find or click on the handful of decent sites on a category page, when the first 10 sites are no good. People give up faster than that since they don't have the time. After a few visits to odp and not finding what they were seeking, they just don't bother to visit your directory any more.
I do have my site listed in Open Directory Project, but I am almost embarrased that I do, considering it looks like my site is listed among junk sites. If I had other good sites listed among my own, it would make mine look better!
Posted at 5:44AM on Oct 10th 2007 by Sally
18. @Sally: I believe that we already deal with dead sites reasonably efficiently (they can usually be detected programatically), but when it comes to spotting made-for-adsense sites and other junk that we don't want to list, the more eyes the better.
If you spot any sites that don't meet the listing criteria at http://www.dmoz.org/guidelines/include.html please help by letting us know: either use the "update listing" link on the category page where the site is listed, or post in the "Quality Control Feedback" forum at http://www.resource-zone.com/
Posted at 6:54AM on Oct 10th 2007 by chaos127
19. Obviously we want to be listed in DMOZ, but for how long? Usually other directories let you know your status (accepted or not) and some even give you details for rejection. That in my opinion is good service. For the last 6-7 month I've been optimizing my site www.egsmartsys.com and right now it ranks very well in GOOGLE. What's more important than that? I think it is not worth to waste any more energy trying to get listed in DMOZ. Like me, many other site webmasters are equally disappointed, and no longer trying to get listed. With time this will cause DMOZ to simply vanish from webmasters forums and discussion and its consequence will be simply bye bye DMOZ..There are already a lot of new EXCELLENT Directories, and they will take over soon. Give it some time; we will see how DMOZ will rank. I don’t know if DMOZ will allow my posting to be seen, if they do, just monitor DMOZ ranks and compare it with other main directories you’ll see DMOZ going down.
Posted at 11:47AM on Oct 10th 2007 by info
20. "@ info" - good luck with the other directories and their corresponding costs. DMOZ is free to enter. This is why other engines rate it so highly.
And, you're probably in the minority of webmasters who are "not" trying to get in ODP. We receive thousands of submissions a day. And the RDF is recieved by thousands of sites.
DMOZ is not going down. Thanks for stopping by.
Posted at 1:34PM on Oct 10th 2007 by Chubacabra