http://www.tigertom.com/chat_rooms.htm removed

http://www.tigertom.com/chat_rooms.htm has been removed from
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Internet/Chat/

Possible reasons:

1. TigerTom.Com was blocking all search engine bots by mistake, for about 5 days, 23rd to 27 Nov. approx.

2. Two rooms (Lounge and Dating) had to be taken down temporarily on the 15th Dec., due to server overload. With the page's removal from DMOZ, I guess that won't be problem from now on i.e. many fewer visitors from search engines

The entire site was unavailable for about 30 minutes on the 15th Dec., as the web host had closed it, due to the server overload.

I am currently moving to a semi-dedicated server, but now that probably won't be necessary.

3. The Video chat room has been disabled for a few weeks, due to spamming/ hacking attempts on the software that runs it.

BUT: The other rooms were full to bursting up until the 15th.

I don't understand why such a popular, useful, ad-free page has been removed. I was getting about 500 unique vistors a day to it. I get emails from users saying how much they enjoy the rooms, as I've modified the software to kick users of foul language. I get angry/contrite emails from people who've 'trolled' the rooms, and got booted, pleading to be let back in.

Any clues would be appreciated.

We rarely list deeplinks, preferring to list just the root.

Dear Mr. Noble,

Thank you for your reply. I see you're in the UK. I am based in London.

Re: Your reply: I can understand that. DMOZ has pruned my listings back over the years, for reasons I could guess, mainly a 'unique content' criterion, or a change of DMOZ sub-directory listing standards.

Is therefore 'no sub pages unless you're as big as internet.com' a basic rule, stringently adhered to? I'd hate to think it was something I'd done to offend. That page has been in DMOZ since before 1999.

The chat rooms are a really good service, and unusual in that their software works hard to keep 'chats' civil e.g. go the the Club Chat Room on there, start swearing, and see what happens.

Anyway, I don't wish to whine (much ) I'm sure you quite a bit of that.

I have emailed a query to one of the category editors. Perhaps that may produce a more particular response.

If anyone (else) reads this post, could they suggest a category my unusual, eclectic site might comfortably sit in? I had the same problem submitting to Yahoo, and they gave me quite an odd listing.

I appreciate you're busy dealing with a rising tide of spam submissions to your index, and weeding out 'dead' sites.

Thank you for your prompt attention. I can rest a little easier now. But it's going to be a cold and lonely Christmas if my luck keeps runing in this direction

Your site reads

15 Dec. 2004: The Lounge and Dating free chat rooms have been taken offline temporarily.

This is due to their increased popularity. They have overloaded the server this site is run on.

I regret I may not be able to sove this problem until after the New Year . Once again, TigerTom's Free Chat Rooms are a victim of their own success. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Well, that seems 1. Very efficient and/or 2. Rather harsh.

My server get's overloaded, and I get booted within a few days from DMOZ?

I suspect the page was deleted at an earlier date, but as archive.org no longer carries dmoz.org or directory.google.com, I can't ascertain when.

My site is now back to normal (It got hit by the phpBB forum DDos attack as well, good job I'd upgraded).

So, given that there are no appeals(?) should I:

1. Try to get that page http://www.tigertom.com/chat_rooms.htm back into DMOZ or,
2. Should I go for a listing that covers the main content of the site? http://www.tigertom.com

I would dearly love to find a category that suits it, but it's a bit eclectic.

Thank you for your attention to my tale of woe.

Sorry, I should have been clearer in my message - I was just telling you as a favour. Your site was removed when it was up, not as a result of that message. It was removed becasue of the type of content or lack or it - not because of server errors.