DMOZ Isn't Open

[savvydog]

Not to sound like a broken record or anything, but...

We've submitted over 30 client sites to DMoZ in the past 2+ years. All of the sites are very well designed sites with quality content. All of the sites have been under review for at least 1 year and many for more than 2 years.

None of the sites has been listed with the directory or even reviewed. I've posted threads for each site on the DMOZ editor forums and followed up ever 3 months (now every 6 months) on each and every site. Still nothing has happened.

The way that DMOZ is run is mind-numbingly stupid. I can't believe that an organization like this is allowed to have such a signficant impact on the search results for the largest search engine in the world. Doesn't Google recognize that something must be done about DMOZ or web professionals will eventually turn against them?

One thing I'm interested in -- how do you learn who the category editor is for your categories or whether or not one exists?

[billc]

I signed up as an editor at Dmoz the first day you could apply. It was early in 2000 I believe. First site I added to the category was my own. Did my best for years to keep the competition to a minimum, but had 10 of my own sites in that category. I also edited the fortune 500 company site for the company I work for. Want to find out why your sites are not listed. Sign-up as an editor in a very small obscure category,10 sites on it or less in the category,they won't accept it for a category with more sites listed on it. Editors has to give a reason why they rejected your site,with every edit they do on it,it will take you some time to sign up,because you have to find 3 sites that are not listed yet,then edit them. After becoming an editor,you can log in and check any category edits since day 1,or any editors edits he or she has ever made. Are they cooked? Big time!!!! The higher up you go in the DMOZ ladder the more cooked they are. One of the biggest is in charge of gambling http://dmoz.org/profiles/arkoid.html their profiles don't mean a thing,I used my wife's name and a e-mail address just for editing. One thing you can look for as an editor is what IP submitted a site and what IP edited the site. As a cheating editor, using dial up helps, different every time you dial up.
Yahoo editors,different story. They would lose their income if caught cheating. They have certain categories they edit,but sometimes are moved around a bit. I have 25 sites listed on Yahoo. 11 in one category. Want more then one site in a category on Yahoo. It's very hard now, with the recurring fee every year. YOU HAVE TO USE A DIFFERENT CREDIT CARD FOR EACH SITE SUBMITTED TO YAHOO IN THE SAME CATEGORY!!!! Use the same credit card for 2 sites in the same category and they will delete them both, bye bye $600 (ouch). Does it help to have your site on Dmoz or Yahoo? YES! I have dummy sites on Dmoz just to have links to my affiliate sites, which gets them into Googles listings, plus it tends to increase their page rank on Googles by 1, if listed on Dmoz. Every time a site is edited,rejected or not,the previous edits show up when the next edited is done on a site,Plus the editor can see if it is listed in any other categories.
Got to go
Bill

[7thDsites]

I do, and also suggest to my clients, submit to dmoz - it can't hurt; but don't hold your breath or even waste time checking to see if you've been listed. If you do get in great; if not it's unfortunate but certainly not a site-killing experience.

The backend of DMOZ does pretty much suck -

I have tried several times to become an editor, only to be declined for non-valid reasons - I 'selected a category that was too broad' or the 'already had an editor' neither of these being valid or true.

How about this wait...

I submitted my hosting business over two and a half years ago... It was added to DMOZ roughly 2 months ago!!
Now I know that our site could be considered a medium sized site, or large by some standards, after all it does have about 35-40 pages to it and so I'm guessing that the editor very slowly and oh so carefully reviewed each and every page of the site - this being in addition to the standard 6 month or so wait of course; but we made it!!

I suggest to submit and forget about it!

[jstarkweather]

I have been trying to get my model building community site listed there for almost 3 YEARS! No replies to any of my submissions.

I applied to be an editor twice. No reply.

A german editor added the german language version of the site about 6 months ago, but I noted recently it has been removed.

All in all I would say that Netscape/AOL's guardianship of DMOZ has been a VERY bad thing.

Thankfully I think Google is no longer weighing DMOZ inclusion so highly in PR.

Jim

[cbp]

have been trying to get my model building community site listed there for almost 3 YEARS! No replies to any of my submissions.

Everyime you submit, you usually overwite the previous one with the new date - you keep moving your site to teh back ofthe pool if the editor sorts the unreviewed by date.

I have checked - your site is waiting and an editor has had to spend time deleting the duplicate submissons. DON't submit again.

Thankfully I think Google is no longer weighing DMOZ inclusion so highly in PR

It never used t.

CBP

[mawells]

cbp:

Right from DMOZ's own FAQ pages:

There's no editor for my category - will my submission ever get reviewed?
What you are seeing at the bottom of the category is that there is no editor named. This does not mean that a category gets no editor attention. Any editor "higher-up" the category tree can edit in a category lower down. In addition to this, there are two categories of editor, called Editalls and Metas who can edit any category in the directory. So yes, someone will eventually review every submission.

How long should I wait before I resubmit?
The simple answer is "forever".
The ODP submission guidelines used to say to do it every month, but this has been rendered unnecessary by changes in how the ODP works. Once a submission has been received, it will never go away. It will sit in that category, awaiting review. Submissions do not expire.

So the preferred method is now to suggest the site to the category and wait at least a month. If, after a month, the site has not appeared, then come to Resource Zone and check that the site submission was successful (some do get lost). If an editor tells you to resubmit, then please do. Once an editor has confirmed that the submission is awaiting editorial review, then submitting again will do no good.

In fact, a new submission to the same category overwrites the previous one. Editors have many ways of sorting the pool of unreviewed sites in a category and one of them is by submission date. If this is the case, then a resubmission will show up further down the list and may end up taking longer to get reviewed.

How long until my site will be reviewed?
The time between submission and an editorial review ranges anywhere from two minutes to over two years. This is due to the voluntary nature of the ODP - editors volunteer their time free of charge to do what they can to build the directory. Reviewing submitted sites is only one of many tasks which editors need to perform, and for many editors, not the top priority.

Submission to the directory by users is just one source of content for the ODP - editors are encouraged to go out on their own and find sites which could be listed.

No one is making anything up. These are our experiences. I also applied to be an editor in a category that claimed it needed an editor and was turned down.

And, frankly, we wouldn't care what DMOZ did if other search engines like Google didn't give any credence to them.

[Christian_SEO]

This is like the people that complained about GMail reading their mail. If you don't see the value of a free system, don't use it.

If you see problems with a system and want to see it improved, then do what you can to get things changed, and keep your ego out of it.

Not all of our client sites have been accepted, but we always submit to the correct category and are careful to follow the guidelines. We then re-submit about every 30 days until the site is listed or we give up on it.

If you think it's easy to run a site like that, or you can do better, then go start one yourself!!

Our small directory is tiny and we already have a submission backlog of about 6 months full of submissions from China, India, Europe and Russia, not the mention all the red, white, and blue spam submissions from people who should be able to read our posted rules, but either don't or they do and submit anyway, or use a submission program.

I know they are not perfect, but only someone that has been involved with them as a staff member really has a right to complain, in my opinion.

If you don't like it, go apply to be and editor if you think you have what it takes in ability and patience. Good Luck!

[cbp]

I suggest to submit and forget about it!

Best advice in this thread....

How to get listed in DMOZ:
1) Have a site that would really add value to the category and has lots of unique content.
2) Write a pefect guieline compliant description and title (I list them quicker and initially ignore the spammy ones as they require more work)
3) Submit once to the one best category
4) Check at resource zone after a month to see if waiting (tech problems do happen)
5) NEVER resubmit, unless told to by an editor
6) Forget about it. There is othing more you can do. Move on. Promote your site elsewhere. Get overit.

CBP

[Christian_SEO]

cbp:

Thanks for the advice - I will adjust my tatics to match your advice.

[jstarkweather]

umm...well isn't that kind of a bad system? In other words if I was malicious all I would need to do it submit a URL regularly and thus make sure a site stays buried in the backlog.

Also how do I stop my 5000+ registered users from submitting the site when they see it's not listed?

Thanks for checking on it though. Much appriciated.

I have gone almost a year between submissions, so there would still appear to be a huge backlog.

Jim