Is Dmoz biased.

Can someone please explain to me why i have tried adding my web site
www.uk-shop-and-buy.co.uk
to nearly every category remotely connected to subject of this site.
I have been unable to put add it to the correct category because there is no add url listing on top of this page
I have now tried for nearly 1 year to have this very popular site included in Dmoz directory.

I have tried at this particular category over 3 times and my site has been visited by the editor each time
http://dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/United_Kingdom/Business_and_Economy/Shopping/Directories/
Edited by Michaelbluett.

But no inclusion into Dmoz.

I have noticed while checking out Dmoz directory every month, that Yahoo shopping has been included in nearly every category to do with shopping.
I feel that as a public directory, my site should have the same recognition as a large organisation.

Kind regards
Janet.

i have tried adding my web site www.uk-shop-and-buy.co.uk
to nearly every category remotely connected to subject of this site.

Click to expand...

Always a very bad idea. It creates more work for editors, and that delays the whole process of getting your site reviewed. You also ignored the submission guidelines (which you agreed to follow when submitting the site), where it says that you may suggest your site to the one most suitable category, and that in itself will make editors less likely to want to deal with your site.

However, your site has been reviewed by several different editors. All of them came to the conclusion that the site is not listable in the ODP; it is in fact clearly covered in our editor guidelines ( http://dmoz.org/guidelines/include.html#notinclude ) that we are not allowed to list it.

The guidelines for this forum forbid the discussion of why we don't include a specific site. See our FAQ: Why won't you get into a discussion about why you won't list my site?

To answer your question: Yes, we have a clear bias against certain types of sites. That doesn't mean we don't like them as such, only that we do not include them in the directory.

Yeah, DMOZ is not a free for all spam directory.

.... and editor Michaelbluett is not the only editor who edits in that category. It may be the only name at the bottom but there are many editors who can edit there. I can edit there but my name does not appear.

Infact I have just taken a quick look and deleted quite a few more sites like that from the pile. They really do just keep coming.

>I have noticed while checking out Dmoz directory every month, that Yahoo shopping has been included in nearly every category to do with shopping.

Yahoo is a host. They offer cheap e-commerce sites and tools to people, but (like Geocities for personal sites) they don't offer a separate domain name. No sane person would ask why their personal site can't have as many listings as Geocities does ...

>I feel that as a public directory, my site should have the same recognition as a large organisation.

The internet is large: anyone is free to pursue their own goals on their own website.

Unfortunately for us, your goals and ours are mutually exclusive. We feel that sites with unique content should be the ones to receive recognition, regardless of the size of the organization behind them.

Fortunately for you, there are tens of thousands of sites that agree with you and will happily cooperate with you in achieving your goal.

Reply from Janet(is Dmoz biased)

Firstly I thank all of the people who took the time out to reply to my post.

Agreeing with most points raised, but feel comments needed to address the following:

In answer to MOD “NEA” comments:
My question
I have tried adding my web site www.uk-shop-and-buy.co.uk
to nearly every category remotely connected to subject of this site.
“Nea” comments:
Always a very bad idea. It creates more work for editors, and that delays the whole process of getting your site reviewed. You also ignored the submission guidelines (which you agreed to follow when submitting the site), where it says that you may suggest your site to the one most suitable category, and that in itself will make editors less likely to want to deal with your site.

My answer to this comment:
If the correct category is unavailable to add your site too, because there is NO SUBMIT YOUR URL section on top of the relevant page, then you have no alternative but to try other sections for inclusion.
“Nea” your other comment:
However, your site has been reviewed by several different editors. All of them came to the conclusion that the site is not listable in the ODP; it is in fact clearly covered in our editor guidelines ( http://dmoz.org/guidelines/include.html#notinclude ) that we are not allowed to list it.
My answer to this comment:
Yes I have read the guidelines, before submitting my site.
Less than 50% of my site is affiliated, reason being i tried to gather together as many shops and services from within the UK, to give the British community a one stop place, to either buy, compare prices or just peruse through the services. My intentions were to receive no affiliation money from this, just provide a service.

Unfortunately, to include the larger companies like Boots, Argos, Comet etc etc, will not allow you to advertise even for free and the only way you can list them is through affiliation.
Having said that i can look through Dmoz directory and see hundreds of listings that default on the same guidelines you are saying stops my sites inclusion.
Thank you all for your replies.
Janet

>If the correct category is unavailable to add your site too, because there is NO SUBMIT YOUR URL section on top of the relevant page, then you have no alternative but to try other sections for inclusion.

This is both wrong and invalid. I'll deal with the "wrong" bit first.

Following the submittal policies is ALWAYS an alternative! (It's always the best alternative, too, by the way.) If you think one category is the best (but no submittals are allowed), then pick its subcategory that is "second best".

The whole issue is moot, because if submittals are turned off in a category, it's because the editors have decided that it's not the best place for ANY website. So if you think it is the best place, that doesn't tell you that the submittal policies don't apply to you any more. It tells you that you haven't figured out the ODP taxonomy yet.

covkidhelp said:

Having said that i can look through Dmoz directory and see hundreds of listings that default on the same guidelines you are saying stops my sites inclusion.

Click to expand...

If so, you should report these at "report abuse/spam" at the top of the category you found those awful, content deprived, sites.

________________________________________
I am not an editor and do not represent the ODP. I may be wrong on all points.