High level editors abusing the ODP

I would like to bring to everyone’s attention that a high level editor who has been with the ODP for some time is abusing the Western Australia category and all categories within it by simply adding websites that are clients of their web design company and rejecting all other submissions in this state of Australia

I will not name the editor nor the web design company in question but I will PM some mods here the more specific details

this is appalling abuse and I am aware it has been reported he previously but nothing was done and the situation has gotten worse

any client of this web design company is added literally the day it is submitted by the web design company (and is added manually by the editor/s in question)

any innocent site that happens to submit to any category within Western Australia is 9 times out of 10 declined simply because it is not a client of this web design company

they have built the western Australia category well and all categories within it with many many websites (all of them their clients)

but regardless, this is a category that is OPEN to ALL sites, not just their clients

its unfair sites are repeatedly denied listings by someone who is working for a web design company secretly denying them because they are not clients

Yes, you've already reported it. Nothing happened because there is no abuse going on.

If you have actual proof (and I don't mean "site A got listed quickly while mine is still waiting so I'm sure someone is abusing their position") of wrongdoing on the part of an editor, feel free to file a new abuse report. If all you have is what you've written here and what you put in the previous report, there's not much point in filing it again.

turning a blind eye to this is really bad on the ODPs part

over 2000 sites are clients of one firm in that category and yet how many sites denied because they are not clients?

I've said all I have to say on this issue and I've formally made my complaint

the rest is up to those in the ODP who do care about the quality of this directory

you won't hear any more from me on the issue, if the complaint process really works then action will be taken or a more quality investigation made by an independent editor who has nothing to do with the named category

webmasterwatch, naming specific editors who you believe are guilty of abuse is not allowed in this forum; that is what abuse reports are for. I have removed your specific allegation.

turning a blind eye to this is really bad on the ODPs part

over 2000 sites are clients of one firm in that category and yet how many sites denied because they are not clients?

I've said all I have to say on this issue and I've formally made my complaint

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Here is a hypothetical example based on something real that I am aware of within the Shopping category. There is a specific storefront that appears only in a very specific area of shopping because those who sell and buy space from that business have to fall within a narrow scope of what that business says qualifies to buy from them. These are separate stores with unique content owned by different businesses. For that reason, certain areas have concentrations from this hosting service. Now, someone on the outside might say, gosh--someone from "store x" MUST be abusing the system and listing all these sites and submit a report (which is welcome because we are aware abuse can happen). Sure, that could be...but if anyone looked at it they would realize the business hosting all these stores is just prominent and has a lot of clients.

Motsa:
If you have actual proof (and I don't mean "site A got listed quickly while mine is still waiting so I'm sure someone is abusing their position") of wrongdoing on the part of an editor, feel free to file a new abuse report. If all you have is what you've written here and what you put in the previous report, there's not much point in filing it again.

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When an abuse report is submitted A LOT of different meta editors look at them and spend time investigating. There has to be actual evidence before anyone can take action. What you've stated here is proof of absolutely nothing. Metas after seeing a report take it a step further and dig also. If nothing at all is uncovered then it appears the accusation is unfounded. If you have actual proof, by all means we would like you to fill out a report and we want to look into it. If it is as motsa says above, there is no point in it. This isn't about "turning a blind eye" as that would imply that some is ignoring evidence--when there is none.

Hi
I'm a WA editor who has worked with the Regional Western Australian section since
startup and I can assure you that there is no high-level, medium level or even low level corruption or anything else abusive or nasty going on. The minute new editors start any hanky-panky it sticks out like a sore thumb and in very quick order they are reported to the Metas and booted out the door so fast they dont know what has hit them.

That being said, as I'm a high-level WA editor I take strong exception to your potentially libelous statements
and unless, as has been suggested, you can back them up, I suggest you refrain from making them.

As a Regional...Australia editor who has edited occasionally in WA, I back up everything Aislinn says. The whole of Regional...Australia is a very tightly run ship with a strong team of highly principled senior editors, and abusive editors are not tolerated. It would be impossible for anyone, especially a high-level editor, to get away with abuse for long without it being noticed, reported and dealt with.

WA lists over 200 web designers - you would have thought that if someone were suppressing competition, the direct competition, the web designers, would be the first to be suppressed. But no, they are listed as they should be. As for more than half the actual listings being done by one person and all inter-related, that stretches the bounds of credibility into fantasy.

thats a tough claim

You could say the same for the free classified section but it's not a fair assessment. If you look at each of the free classified site listings within this section http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Classifieds/Free_Classifieds/
you'll notice that most are driven by e-classified software. You could make a claim that someone within e-classified is getting these sites in. Again, too tough to claim.

I haven't looked into this allegation before. I am not (and for that matter have never been) even in EASTERN Australia, or past wading depths of the other side of the ocean). But I have done a little bit of editing, including some investigation of vicious abuse, relating to the Other Continent.

PM me five sites of clients, that have been rejected (in your opinion, unfairly). (Omit vice sites: sexually explicit, psychotropic drugs, organized crime, etc.) I'll look at at least three of them.

Silence. Deathly silence. Not one URL -- not a single one, not one. Just a categorical accusation, totally without evidence, and a grand exit in a limousine and a huff.

Give him a day, hutcheson. Not all of us are on 24 hours a day.

Has The Limo Done A U-Turn?

I think not but just in case WMW does read this, I've a question for
him/her:

Why, when you have been given the chance to prove your allegations have you gone silent?
Senior editors are here, ready and waiting to view your proof of high-level abuse and I'm actually quite curious as to why, in light of the fact that I know there is no high-level abuse going on, you are so angry with the
WA Regional editors.
What is the real reason?
Do you have what you consider a quality site that has been rejected?
If so, post the url here and lets see what your problem is.

Also, have you done a search for 'Western Australia' or 'Perth' here in the
RZ? If so, why do you think this resource has not been swamped with other
WA web designers and submitters complaining about the abuse you allege is taking place?
Furthermore, if the alleged abuse was taking place, surely those other web designers and submitters would be swamping the RZ as well as filing many, many
abuse reports?

Silence. Deathly silence. Not one URL

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Well, she did say "you won't hear any more from me on the issue".

I checked one category - one we would call a spam magnet with 30 odd sites. If the allegation was true I would expect to find at least 15 sites by the same designer. And the same editor adding them.

All the designers were different except for three sites added in 2002 and 2003 from the same firm. All three sites were in a very similar niche though - often the way, a designer will target one particular niche based on their portfolio. One was originally held up for lack of contact information, one was listed by the same editor who held the first up, the third was listed by a different editor entirely. So 10% from the same firm not 50%, an action that confirms no relationship or it would not have been held up, and two completely independent (located in different states even) involved.

Now in one area of Queensland I can pretty much guarantee 75% of sites come from the same designer - one that submits all his sites to us for his hometown and the surrounding area and he clearly has little competition interested in making submissions. In another region of Queensland there are three primary design firms and the listings are pretty evenly split between them, and DIY jobs.

If you were to look in isolation at individual categories and areas you may well find one or two firms dominating in some - they may be the only ones operating in the area or the niche. All editors have their "regular" submitters who specialise in sites relating to the editor's areas of editing activity. So maybe someone has looked in isolation at a particular category, noticed one designer covering 50% of the sites, and extrapolated across 4000 odd sites in the state as a whole. But whilst one designer might dominate a local or niche market, that dominance is not going to translate across an entire state. For this reason extrapolation is very dangerous, and that is the only way I can see anyone can come up with the figure of 2000.

Two big design companies routinely add their sites to the ODP WA section and as both are highly professional, produce quality sites and *stick to
the guidelines", they tend to get listed without lengthy delays for the simple reason we dont have to check for 'tricks', multiple urls, remove marketing hype etc. They play by the rules (particularly by submitting to the correct category and locality) and as one company in particular submits
a fair number of sites, it may seem to someone slightly paranoid that there is
'something going on'. The fact of the matter is, we are not here to service web designers and these sites are treated like any other content-rich, non-spammy, non-marketing doorway/multiple urled (is there such a word?? site.
The local footy club or church is just as likely to get listed quickly if they submit a nice site to their locality.

But this Elvis is now leaving the building. We all know what Shakespeare said about protesting to much and I've said my piece.