Google using DMOZ descriptions

It appears that Google uses DMOZ descriptions in its listings. I don't know if this has always been the case, however, does anyone have any input as to whether Google uses the DMOZ description in its formula for rankings?

You would have to ask Google. They use our data, but do not share with us any specifics of how they use it vis-a-vis their rankings.

spectregunner said:

You would have to ask Google. They use our data, but do not share with us any specifics of how they use it vis-a-vis their rankings.

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Thanks for the reply but I am hoping for some input from other users of this forum who may have some knowledge and share my concern over the possibly very important impact DMOZ editors may have on Google listings.

Obviously, Google does not divulge such information.

From my experience using Google the descriptions don't come from dmoz. They usually are excerpts from the text of the site that match the keywords to give the surfer a chance to see context. I know Google will display a link to the corresponding Google directory category if the url is in it.

RayJay said:

Thanks for the reply but I am hoping for some input from other users of this forum who may have some knowledge and share my concern over the possibly very important impact DMOZ editors may have on Google listings.

Obviously, Google does not divulge such information.

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OK, first of all, anyone may share your concern. But nobody may express it in this forum. House rules.

As for knowledge: last time I checked, several months ago, DMOZ listings had demonstrably zero effect on Google listings. And whether that is still true or not, editors are required to write descriptions as if it were true.

If a URL is listed in the Google Directory, then if that URL comes up in Google's SERPs, the listing description appears after the 'snippet' from the actual content of the page.

The description in the Google Directory of course came from the Dmoz description, but may be many months out of date. However strange things have gone on lately, with updates to the descriptions in Google SERPs either lagging behind or leaping ahead of updates to the Google Directory.

Now Google is experimenting with a new look, which (as far as I can see) does not use directory descriptions in the SERPs. Only randomly chosen users are seeing it so far.

There is no evidence at all that directory descriptions affect ranking in the SERPs.

More on the relationship in this article: Google and Dmoz - Are They in Love ?
http://www.building-history.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/ODP/Dmoz.htm

Jean, sometimes when Google is under stress, it may show descriptions from the Directory in snippets, but AFAIK such inserts have no special influence on ranking at the present.

RayJay, Google is an algorithmic search engine, and prefers it's own data. The ODP exists to classify and describe, not to promote.

sometimes when Google is under stress, it may show descriptions from the Directory in snippets..

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Google consistently shows the directory description if it has one. It has been doing it for years. The pattern is:

Site/Page title with link
Snippet from page content.
[size=-1]Description:[/size] Directory description up to a word limit.
Category: Link to Google Directory category in which site is listed.
URL

You can see an example in this search, where my site comes up first
http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=building+history

This may change, if Google rolls out the new look that it has been experimenting with.

Google Dance

It is true you will sometimes see listings on Google which seem to incorporate DMOZ results but this is because the robot that google uses is not just restricted to the web site it visits but also seeks links to the web site (This is the main context of rankings). Being that DMOZ is probably the most influential directory of 'Links' on the web it draws from it possibly giving it more credence than links elsewhere.

The same as a search on Google may show because the item, issue or company are featured on another site and the context of search means that Google finds the keywords you have input whitin those listings rather than draw from the hosted site itself.

A good example may be a product you are seeking. You may find on a search this displays online reatialers selling this product rather than manufacturers web sites.

The main ranking system has been changed on Google and has changed twice recently this has been dubbed the 'google dance' as previously stated Yahoo and MSN are using their own robots and pay per click to acheive their own results. http://www.webpronews.com/ will fill you in on developments in this feild and give you an idea of Search engline wars.

The most inportant aspect of ranking on Google is how well you site links to others and vice versa a piece of free software called link popularity check will assist with this.

The long and the short of it is DMOZ is a special animal and most of the general public are fickle unless they know of dmoz then they are unlikely to visit.

They want results even if they are not always as pertinent as the data they could find in DMOZ.

StephenUK said:

It is true you will sometimes see listings on Google which seem to incorporate DMOZ results but this is because the robot that google uses is not just restricted to the web site it visits but also seeks links to the web site (This is the main context of rankings).

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I believe this is a badly flawed mischaracterization, but I've run into this kind of confusion before, so it's worth mentioning.

First, I have NEVER seen DMOZ descriptions affect the ranking of an indexed page. In fact -- and you can easily test this yourself! -- a word in a DMOZ listing will not cause a page to appear in the results at all, let alone improve its position there.

And the description of the Googlebot is badly garbled. Googlebot doesn't look for sites, period. It just follows links FROM sites. What you might say is that when you look for terms that appear in a site description on an ODP page, Google may find the ODP page or one of its mirrors (which of course contain links to other sites, including the site described).

And this way, some search engine users may come to your site through a directory page that they found because it contained the relevant words IN A COMPETITOR'S LISTING -- or, of course, they may go from the directory page found via words in your site's listing, to a competitor. You can recognize this situation because the URL shown is of dmoz.org (directory.google.com, etc.) rather than of the site itself.

Garbled reply

Perhaps my articulation is flawed but I still belive wheter or not googlebot searches links (Part of my original contention that the more links the better the listing.) That Dmoz is still considered the most important link within the progaraming structure.

Secondly having noted on my own listing when searches take place on Google part of the text you can see is the DMOZ editiorial relating to my site.

This is no myth!

part of the text you can see is the DMOZ editorial relating to my site.

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No-one is denying that. If you read my posts above, you will see that this is a well-known fact.

Unfortunately it leads quite a few people to believe that the description taken from the Google/Dmoz Directory actually affects ranking in the search engine results. It does not.

It is simply used by Google to describe the site. Why not? If a search engine has available a directory with 4 million descriptions of sites, it makes sense to use those descriptions in its search results. It gives more information to the searcher.

Other search engines which also have a directory do similar things. Try a web search on Yahoo! In fact you could try the same search that I used as an example on Google. Again my site comes top. The description given is that from the Yahoo! directory and there is a link to the category in which it is listed. But the search result is provided by an algorithm. Other sites in the results are not listed in its directory, so Yahoo! uses text from the page itself as a clue to content.

the more links the better the listing.

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Again this is a well-known fact and not in contention. Google has always made public its PageRank system. Other search engines also appear to factor link popularity into their algorithms.

That Dmoz is still considered the most important link

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Google spokespersons have consistently denied that any greater weight is placed on a link from Dmoz than any other link. Because the Open Directory can be used freely elsewhere, a link from Dmoz will eventually spawn links from many other sites including Google's own directory. So you might say that it is worth more from that perspective. But it is not by any means essential to good ranking in Google.

Why are we having this discussion? Aren't there more than enough forums out there were this topic has been discussed ad nauseum?