American editors are lazy ......

How is that for a headline? There have been quite a few of “submission stories” posted in this forum to which I want to add the following: I have submitted (my own) web site for inclusion the first time four years (!!) ago. Periodic checks whether the site was accepted or whether any response was received netted zero results. Therefore I resubmitted after initial 16 months; however that also netted zero results or responses.

Then about three months ago I read a post that explains how sometimes foreign language European editors can review your site provided the site has also the applicable foreign language. This I did and, VOILA – the site was reviewed (and accepted) by an editor in Germany within 8 weeks! How did I know that? My site tracks visitors and their originating URL’s, and you can imagine my big surprise seeing an entry that came from dmoz. On an interesting side note: my submitted website earned acceptance (or at least a response) on just about all other directories that I had submitted to – some even within 24 hours, Imagine That!

DMOZ provides a valuable service; the question is only at which point during its growth their position of influence has to include responsibility to reflect the www accurately and fairly. I am always highly suspicious when the fox guards the hen house – for that reason democracies have a separation of powers – one branch legislates (reviews) and the other executes (accepts)

One of the more popular responses from editors in this forum is: “if you don’t like the DMOZ system, join it and work with it (i.e. become an editor)”. Interestingly enough I tried that also (three times - each time rejected). However I was able to become an editor at another major directory without any problems; one wonders how those DMOZ quality standards could be supposedly so much higher to allow them the luxury of rejecting volunteers when they are perfectly suitable for other directories (bit of sarcasm, sorry ….

One poster wrote about other directories becoming more successful as DMOZ becomes too cumbersome and unresponsive – that day has already arrived.

You're making a mistake in assuming that all editors in English categories are American and that all editors in non-English categories are not.

one wonders how those DMOZ quality standards could be supposedly so much higher to allow them the luxury of rejecting volunteers when they are perfectly suitable for other directories

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What's acceptable to one directory isn't necessarily acceptable to another. Each directory is different and someone might be more suitable to editing in one directory than another. Congratulations on finding one that suits you. We would be the first to wish you luck with it, just as we wish luck to other directories -- the Internet is big enough for all of us.

Never mind. motsa was quicker and a lot more polite.

Well, it's a good thing you found what you were looking for. Our experience is that is available so many places, we don't have to bother providing it, and so we can move on to other areas: areas where what the ODP provides is a unique contribution to human culture.

If you meet people looking for personal self-promotion, you're welcome to them all. If you run into people looking for the largest categorized collection of information on the net, -- don't feel compelled to serve them yourself, if you have no interest in that. Just send them our way.