Adding vs deleting

I realize that when you submit a URL to an ODP category, then it gets added by an editor with rights for that category.

Is that true for removing entries? Is this the correct forum for reporting bad URLs? What constitutes a dead link? Does it have to be a "404 Not Found"? What if it's a live site that returns a "200 OK" but the webpage states "Out of business. Sorry!"

Deleting sites is done by the listed editor, or if none, then by editors above or with editall permissions.

Sites are deleted, or put into unreviewed, if they are found to be 404 (or other simular connection errors). They are deleted if the editor find they are out of business as well. In well maintained categories sites are reviewed by an editor once and awhile looking for new redirects, changed URLs, and closed sites. Every two months or so an automated spider-like robot (called robozilla) checks every site in the directory (twice) and then marks all of the "dead" URLs with a red notation. Editors can then check their categories to remove these "reds", either by finding new URLs to replace the old (sites change sometimes especially deeplinks), unreviewing, or deleting (there are a couple other options too that involve getting the help of other editors who are particularly skilled at finding new URLs).

We don't like deleting content from the directory. If a site has been listed we do what we can to make sure that it's really gone before we delete it.

By all means, though, if you come across a site that gives a 200 OK (which wouldn't trigger a flag by our automated run) but the site says the company is out of business, feel free to PM one of the editall or meta editors that post here regularly (me, for example) and they'll look into it.

Another possibility if you find problem sites like this is to send feedback to the editor of that cat, or if one doesn't exist the next editor higher up the tree. The advantage to contacting the editor of that cat is that s/he would be the one most responsible for handling this. In particular, if it seemed desirable to hunt around to see if the site had moved, or hang onto the URL in case the site rises from the dead.

I have used the "Update URL" link and used the "nature of your changes" section to inform the editor that the site is OOB, merged with another, or otherwise dead. That way it is at least in the unreviewed queue. Some small neglected categories may never get looked at by an editor higher up in the hierarchy unless that little green "unreviewed" flag pops up.

Better to send feedback to the editor than using that "Update URL". It isn't unusual in many cats of the ODP that nobody looks at the unreviewed queue at all for over a year. However, for an already listed site to be gone, changed, etc. is a higher priority issue than handling unrevieweds. The reason is the possibility that the domain name may be taken over by a porn spammer or such.

>Better to send feedback to the editor than using that "Update URL".

I don't agree: you don't know how to find an active editor. The Update URL will get done "eventually".

But for simple domain gone/page gone type (-1, -4, 404, 403 statuses) there is no reason to report them -- we have a robot that catches them (right now we're still working on the robot's last report, and the robot is busy building a new one). What we could use help with are the pages that have changed content -- and THAT counts as "abuse", so please post in the Abuse forum, or alternatively sticky-mail a moderator here.

Fair point that feedback might end up with an inactive editor. As such, doing both an update URL and feedback makes sense.

Sometimes it can be useful to be told about 404 sites; they might have been domain-hijacked, and no longer 404 by the time that Robozilla does a scan.