ODP - Submission that contains similiar content

ODP Rules state

"Do not submit URLs that contain only the same or similar content as other sites you may have listed in the directory. Sites with overlapping and repetitive content are not helpful to users of the directory. Multiple submissions of the same or related sites may result in the exclusion and/or deletion of those and all affiliated sites."

How can you differentiate "same or similiar content"?

I am having issues with an editor rejecting my submission cause he states my site contains "same or similiar content" as another site in the listings.

I would have to disagree cause the functionality is different and the site is a completely different company.

I had no problems with Yahoo during submission time.

I would like to get more feedback on this topic. If you need more detailed examples of the URLs to compare I will indeed provide it.

How do I know if the Editor is rejecting a listing due to other reasons such as maybe the editor just doesn't want to list the site?

Should I be esculating this issue to a higher authority?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

How can you differentiate "same or similiar content"?

Editors working in specific branches of the directory apply their knowledge of the category, internal discussions on category contents, category descriptions, and editor guidelines to decide whether the site is appropriate for the category. We have ways of comparing sites and content to make these decisions, but if an editor initially sees duplication of information from elsewhere they may not search far enough to find the one page of unique content.

the functionality is different

We don't care - we are only concerned with content (providing navigation works as well) Doesn't matter if you use a database driven random color menu generator, or text links - content, not way of getting content is king.

the site is a completely different company

Well that may be true, but yours and my definition of 'different' may vary. For our purposes a subsidiary company is not a different company, neither is a trade name, or 2 registered companies with the same ownership. They would need to be completely independent of each other in all ways.

I had no problems with Yahoo during submission time

We are not Yahoo - you dont pay us, you cant pay us, and editors decide what is admissible based on publicly available guidelines.

I would like to get more feedback on this topic

Well this is the place to ask.
We can only answer very generally without being provided with the URL - it is fine to post it here (normally use the submission status forum, but we'll keep it here all in one thread).

Allegations of editor abuse are taken seriously, if you have a reasonable amount of substantive information to believe this to be the case, then yes, you can escalate by mailing all information to anyone listed as Meta in this list, but only do this if you have cause to believe that there is abuse.

Hope this helps
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