Site dropped after being in for 4 years

Our site was dropped after being listed for 4 years. It is www.mycreditcheck.com. We have some of the most original and comprehensive information on all aspects of credit and credit management. Could someone offer a possible explanation ? Yes we do sell credit reports, but also offer original content. Our content was there even before the credit bureaus had their own site. Also, we have tried unsuccesfully to resubmit and contact the editor for this category. Consumer/Pers Finance/Money Management/Credit with no success.

Thanks.

It was removed for very good reasons. It won't be relisted in its current form, but congratulations for the almost 4 years of being included.

http://dmoz.org/guidelines/include.html#affiliate will explain.

"However, a site that contains affiliate links in addition to other content (such as a fan site for a singer that has interviews and photos plus banner ads and links to buy the singer's CDs) might be an acceptable submission to the directory."

I think we qualify under this rule. If you'll notice we have about 16 pages of informational content and 1 page of 4 sales links.

Also, there are other "Affiliate sites" then under that category. Whats different about them. I don't see it.

Thanks.

You'll notice that it says "a site that contains affiliate links in addition to other content ... might be an acceptable submission to the directory". That doesn't mean that it is acceptable, it means that it won't be automatically disqualified. In these cases, editors use their discretion to decide whether a site is there to provide content with the odd affiliate link to pay costs, or there to make money from affiliate links, with a bit of content thrown in to generate traffic. It seems that your site was found wanting.

Please note the "might" in what you quoted - it doesn't guarantee you a listing, and an editor decided that it was not to be listed any more.

And I am not going to give any opinion on here about sites other than what you inquire about, since the purpose of this forum is to enquire about submission status, and this is not the issue here.

Thanks.

I had trouble finding the informational content. I didn't have trouble finding the moneymaking links.

So your saying that I have too many money making links and if I clean that up I could be listed again ?

I think I have decent content, everyone I've sent there said I learned a few things I didn't know. It looks nice. That has to be worth something.

I just wish there was a way that you could at least get a response that said, If you remove the "free link" yada...then we would consider you more viable.

Thanks.

We could say that, in fact I'll say it now. If you remove the majority of your affiliate links, your site would be more likely to get a listing.

You'll notice that I've said "more likely", not "guaranteed". And that's the problem here, the review process is subjective. If you remove all but one of your affiliate links, but that one uses very large text, right in the middle of the page, the site gives the impression of being there to sell. I've seen some sites where they could have removed all of their affiliate links, and I still wouldn't have listed them. That's because all of the text on the site was designed to drive poeple to the affiliate links. Removing the links would have left just sales pitch, with no useful informational content. I haven't looked at your site, so I can't tell you if removing your affiliate links will get you listed. The editors that reviewed your site probably came across the affiliate links, and rejected there and then. They didn't look at the rest of the site, so they can't tell you if it's listable or not.

Generally speaking, sites are designed either to provide information, or to create traffic for affiliate sales. If your site wasn't originally designed to provide information, you're unlikely to get it listed just by cutting down the number of affiliate links. Remember also that we're all human here, and humans get suspicious. If we see someone cutting down the amount of affiliate links just to get listed, we get suspicious that they might put them all back once they are listed, and that means we check them regularly to see if our suspicions had any foundation. Sites discovered to be adding affilaite links after getting listed are terminated with extreme prejudice.