ODP/Google - Broken Link

Hello,

Google has (2) category links (to the ODP) at the top of the following search page:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=lapel+pins

The link to the ODP category below is broken:

Business > Advertising > Promotional Items > Logo Items > Buttons and Badges

It should link to the following ODP category:

Business: Marketing and Advertising: Advertising: Promotional Items: Logo Items: Buttons and Badges

Is their anyone at Google.Com that I can email to ask them to fix this broken link?

Or, can someone at ODP contact them?

My web site appears in the category with the broken link and I can't help but think this would help me and the other people listed in this category with search engine placement.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Noah

The links point to categories within http://directory.google.com/ not back to http://dmoz.org/ so (in the short term) this is entirely an issue for Google to fix.

However, Google does get the ODP data from a copy of the RDF dump, made available by the ODP. This dump used to be updated weekly, and Google used to take a copy approximately monthly. There has been recent technical problems so a new RDF has not been produced since the end of September. It may be that Google also spiders http://dmoz.org/ directly as well, hence the differences in link destination noted like this in several places. When Google gets a new and updated RDF from the ODP this may well correct the problem, but it won't do any harm to drop Google a note to point out the error. There is little that anyone at the ODP can do to correct an error at Google, but this may be self correcting at the next RDF update.

The search results provided by Google include links to the Google Web Directory. Whilst the GWD comprises of the data available from the Open Directory Project at http://dmoz.org/ , we do not have any control over how Google (or any other 'down-stream' partner) uses the data.

Google will probably fix this problem themselves in the next couple of weeks, but if you think it is important that that link is fixed ASAP, then Google's contact page is where you should be asking: not here, alas. Indeed, the fault is more with the Google search engine that the Google Web Directory itself...

Personally, I wouldn't worry about the matter as Google will still have your site listed in their database (just as it probably is listed in the ODP's), and I'm sure the link-failure between Google Search and the GWD will correct itself next time Google updates (usually every month).

Thank you for the very informative reply.

Can you tell me when the next RDF dump is?

Also, do you have an email address for Google? One where I could email them and tell them about the problem?

Thank you,

Noah

Thank you Beebware.

I am going to email google now atthe following address:

webmaster@google.com

Noah

Unfortunately, as the RDF dump has been crashing, and staff have as yet been unable to fix the problem, I don't know when it will be fixed. Staff are working on it, though, and hopefully it will be fixed soon.

Hello ambivalence,

Thank you for the reply.

Do you mean that someone at the ODP can fix this problem? Or, if the RDF Dump is successful... that will fix the problem?

Noah

>Do you mean that someone at the ODP can fix this problem?

>Or, if the RDF Dump is successful... that will fix the problem?

When Google picks up a successful, up-to-date RDF dump, the problem will vanish.