Rejected site

Hi
I have just found out that my site has been rejected. The reason (I think!) is that the editor considered my site to be an affiliate site. It is true that I have some affiliate links however I would like to say that I beleive that if the editor ignored those links (as I read in the guidelines) then my site has an awful lot of original and genuine content - which I have worked extemely hard at I might add
Can I resubmit my site to a different category or can I enter into a dialogue with the editor? I don't infact know who it was but could I find out? Or should I just accept that any affiliate links are a "no - no" which seems a real shame to me when affiliate sites are on the increase and a lot of them have an awful lot of good ideas, advice and resources?

I must say that it appears to me that the content exists primarily to get people to click on the links, not that the links exist to complement the content.

Can I resubmit my site to a different category

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No. The site will not be listed in the current form in any category (or it would have been forwarded there). If the content changes significantly, feel free to resubmmit to the most appropriate category at that time.

can I enter into a dialogue with the editor?

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No. Editors may initiate dialogues, but rarely will do so, and responding to feedback is not a requirement. This is due to past abuses by disgruntled submitters.

I don't infact know who it was but could I find out?

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No.

should I just accept that any affiliate links are a "no - no"

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No. Some affiliate links are permitted, but not when there are so many that it appears the site exists only to drive traffic offsite via those links.

Sorry but that's just the way things are. We list content, and offsite affiliate links are not content.

I recognise that affiliate links may be a valid way for you to make money from a site, but the ODP is not the place to pursue your marketing strategy.
:tree:

Hi Gimmster
Thanks for your very speedy reply. I am very confused here. I have read the OPD guidelines for site submissions several times and looked at many sites that are listed with the OPD and cannot see why my site should have been rejected. I am not using the OPD to pursue a marketing strategy as you put it and in fact I have set up my site as a hobby and it does not mirror any other site. You did not say what I would need to do to make my site more acceptable.
Also what does the OPD have against affiliate links? Many sites on the web and in your directory are out there to make some money and infact only a extremely small minority are there solely to just provide information. I am not criticisng you personally as I know that you have rules and guidelines to follow. There are many people out there who have affiliate links to their site(s) so I'm sure that they would be interested in this thread. Thanks.
Nicole

Affiliate links are not considered valuable content according to ODP standards. Therefore a site which appears to exist (note the wording) purely to put affiliate links in front of a surfer are not considered listable.

So once you blank out the affiliate links, the content not only has to be unique (i.e. not available elsewhere) but valuable in the eye of the reviewing editor.

It's subjective yes, but that is the nature of the beast, I'm afraid.

If you have a product which YOU sell, then there is rarely a problem listing it in the ODP. The problem with affiliate link is that it's not really YOUR product - you (and several thousand others) are just putting links on your web sites which direct a surfer to the web site of the company that's really selling you the product, giving the original web site a commission. Why shouldn't we just list the web site which truly sells the products, and ignore all the others?

I hope this clarifies how we do not see affiliate links as valuable content to list in the directory.

[Edit to add: It seems to me that, if this is truly a hobby of yours, then you shouldn't have a problem in having a web site without links which make you money.]

Hi Alucard
I understand what you are saying but the point I am trying to make is what is the difference in selling your OWN product as opposed to someone else's? It's all still selling but just in a different way. In fact in my view a 'good' affiliate site can be much more valuable and helpful to the researcher as the affiliate has done a lot of the leg work and is giving suggestions and advice which the searcher can take or leave. I know that one might consider affiliate links as pure advertising and I agree that they are in some cases but in mine and in many others the ideas of my links are to povide the searcher with additional, relevant and good information and resources relevant to their search - just like the ODP :warning:
I'm just trying to make a point here as I feel that the ODP are going to be excluding a huge number of good and informative sites by being so set on excluding sites with affiliate links.
I have to say that I shall not be removing my links just to get in to the ODP as I feel that my links really compliment the information on my site and make my site much more useful to the searcher. As an example my site is about giving ideas and advice on kid's and teen's party planning. A searcher arriving at my party themes page for example will find lots of theme ideas which they can use straight off my site but if they want to be a bit more imaginative and have costumes and extravagant decorations I have "suggested" what I consider useful and appropriate sites for them to visit. We are often in a rush these day (hence the beauty of the internet) and having someone make useful suggestions of where to get what you want is a real help. This way everyone is happy - the searcher, me and the site I referred them to. The aim of the ODP is to please the searcher is it not?
I know that things won't change just for me but I feel it is important that we all put our points of view across here as after all that is what the ODP encourages. To sum up editors should not just discard a site because it has affiliate links which seems to me to be the case when I look at other moans on this forum. Not all affiliate links are blatant and irrelevant advertising. Look beyond the links as the editor guidelines suggest.

>In fact in my view a 'good' affiliate site can be much more valuable and helpful to the researcher ....
Do not feel that our dislike should prevent you from surfing them. We won't stop you. We don't list them, but any popular search at Google will find enough such sites to keep you well and fully helped.

>I know that one might consider affiliate links as pure advertising
One might.

>The ideas of my links are to povide the searcher with additional, relevant and good information and resources relevant to their search
It's your site, and you can do whatever you want with it. If it is of value to you, you need not consider the deprecation of ODP editors (or anyone else, for that matter.)

>just like the ODP
Not at all. The ODP provides links to "unique content." We see that as a very different mission. The net has room for different sites and goals, and you may be relieved that the ODP has no intention of competing with you.

>I'm just trying to make a point here as I feel that the ODP are going to be excluding a huge number of good and informative sites by being so set on excluding sites with affiliate links.
Set your mind at ease. We don't exclude good and informative sites simply because they also have affiliate links. We exclude sites because they don't have adequate unique relevant content, counting affiliate links as "non-unique".

We see that as an important distinction.

Of course, if you see a neglected niche the ODP isn't serving, you have a website: exploit it. We won't compete with you.

My judgment -- and I think I express the feeling of the editing community -- is that the acute shortage of sites consisting of affiliate links has not yet reached such a critical stage that we need to revise the ODP guidelines.

what is the difference in selling your OWN product as opposed to someone else's?

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It's not the selling, it's the product that is important. If a user is looking for product X, rather than list 1000 sites with links to the site selling X, we want to link directly to the site selling X.

Say that only 26 products (A-Z) exist. We would prefer to list the site offering each product directly. A user could easily tell that there are 26 unique products to buy. Affiliate marketing schemes confuse the issue of how many products there actually are. We don't want a category full of 1000 sites, where as the user looks through them they start thinking, "wait - this is the same stuff I've already seen 10 times" (which is what the poor reviewers say to themselves constantly.) It is more useful to the ODP to have a concise list of products available.

lissa speaks truly. But your question is even more false and misleading: in that you are not selling anything. You are linking to other sites, that might or might not be selling something.

If you were selling ANYTHING -- your own products OR someone else's -- then you might have a listable site. As it is, you can't.

I guess that we shall just have to accept our different points of view. What a shame that some editors can not see the value of 'good' sites that contain affiliate links.

There is probably an eternal great gulph, and it may end there. You might, however, look at it this way: several users looked at your site and DIDN'T FIND your "unique good" content. You may be focusing too much on shoving affiliate links in their face (and therefore looking like all the other affiliate spam out there) and too little on prominently featuring your unique contribution. You might want to review your website navigation and page layout in that light.