DMOZ - The Open Directory Project (ODP)

[Larwee]

DMOZ has been receiving a lot of criticism the past few years. One of the big complaints is the long wait to get into the directory with it often taking a year or longer.

Things have changed over the years and most people do not consider The Open Directory Project to be as important as it once was.

DMOZ has been around since 1998, but some have recently thought that DMOZ was about to come to an end. That isn't the case and AOL has decided to make that very clear.

DMOZ has started a new blog. They say they plan to post every week. They say the blog will be used to let people know what is going on with DMOZ, to allow editors to spotlight their categories and to recruit new editors.

They have also indicated that they want to receive feedback from the readers.

Here is the link to their blog so you can find out more DMOZ Blog

[kaykay]

General-purpose Directories have falling out of favour for search of information.
One main reason is that Google is getting better at providing the required information with a single click. And with SEs you land directly on the specific page.

Who would like to wade through 4-5 clicks on DMOZ, and then wade though further clicks on the web-site to find what they want?

[Jocelyn]

Going to bump this out of sheer curiosity... My website is mostly about getting started as an affiliate and there are links here and there to affiliate programs.

Do you think it would be denied access into dmoz? It's mostly (99%+) articles on the subject. The only blatant affiliate link is the "featured" block, which will eventually point to a featured article rather than an affiliate link.

[Larwee]

Jocelyn, it is impossible to predict what any particular DMOZ editor will or won't do. However I have some information sites listed that have affiliate links and there are many people who have sites listed which have affiliate links, AdSense ads and various other ads.

Things are a lot different now than when DMOZ started in 1998. They realize that many quality sites now contain advertising of some type.

[Jocelyn]

Thanks a bunch... I think I'll wait a week to get more content up and then submit. See how it goes

[Larwee]

It is still early for the new blog but at this early stage they aren't keeping with their plan of making a new post once a week.

There is a lot of interesting stuff in the comments to what is in the blog so far. It is obvious that a lot of people aren't happy with DMOZ and one of the biggest reasons is the long wait to get sites included. It sometimes has taken years.

The Open Directory Project (ODP) says they are adding an average of 78 new editors a week right now. But editors aren't required to add new sites. All they are required to do is make one edit every four months and that could be something as simple as changing the wording of a description.

It is going to be interesting to see if they will be able to improve their image.

[Rob_TID]

Cool - anther stream fop revenue = become an editor and take kickbacks!

[longroad]

I've submitted countless quality sites to DMOZ over the years and not one has ever been included.
I believe the editors are in it for themselves.. unless you know someone there its near impossible to get in.

As someone said, its not as relevant as it once was and personally I'd rather spend 10 minutes submitting my new site to 20 or so other quality directories than even bother with DMOZ.
I only use directory submission as a one off task when I've launched a new site, not as an ongoing strategy.

[Larwee]

There has been an updated to the DMOZ Blog and the issue of people waiting a long time to be included was addressed. Here is part of the official answer that some might find interesting:

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 is a lot more that you might like to read. It is the October 8, 2007 post.

Possibly they will come close to making a post once a week in the new blog. But it is clear that a lot of people aren't pleased with DMOZ. They might be trying to improve matters. Time will tell.

Here again is the link to the DMOZ Blog DMOZ Blog

Here is a link to the DMOZ Open Directory Project (ODP) in case you might be interested in making a submission ODP - Open Directory Project

[Larwee]

I took another look today at the DMOZ blog since it has been a while since I last looked. They still aren't updating it once a week like they said they planned, but they are updating it.

It looks as if they are making some efforts towards trying to improve the negative image they have among a lot of people.

One thing that has become very obvious is that the blog has been concentrating on editors and trying to attract more editors and they have added a lot of new editors. This has resulted in more sites being added and some being added without waiting as long, but there are still many people who say they have been waiting for a very long time.

In case you want to see what they have been saying in their blog you can find it here DMOZ Blog

If you are interested, you can submit to the DMOZ Open Directory Project (ODP) by using the Suggest URL link ODP - Open Directory Project