In the time I worked with ODP as a volunteer editor (3 months), I more than doubled the size of the categories I edited, mostly by finding sites on the Internet and listing them. I never violated any rules that I know of, and was never given any warnings.

Then, I was denied permission to edit a new catergory, and the reason given was "trust." I had applied to edit a category with 77 pending submissions where the editor was doing just 2 edits per month. When I was rejected, I asked a meta editor for guidance, and was ignored. The next day I was terminated, and told that a reason for being fired is never given, and decisions are final.

This is of course their right; I have no right to participate. It is unprofessional to terminate people without giving a reason, but who says that they need to be professional.

It always broke my heart to find a submission from a very ligimate company that had waited more than a year to have the submission reviewed. Companies that employ 300 people are often at the mercy of a 22 year old editor who hides behind a screen name. ODP isn't about business, it is about editors building a directory their way, no matter what the impact on people who need that listing.

The alternative is Yahoo. They have always listed me, fast, and the listing results in 3 or 4 links (Yahoo USA, Yahoo Regional, and Yahoo Australia.) That's worth $299, and Yahoo is like any business, they try to please the customer whenever possible to do so. ODP does not view the site owner as a customer.