Site submitted multiple times with no response

mtienken · Dec 22, 2010

I have submitted a very reputable site several times over the past few years with no response. Most recently I submitted it on 2/23/2009 and again on 9/1/2010. I can't think of any reason my site would not be accepted and it really bugs me that my competitors are listed in the directory and I am not. Do I have any recourse at all or is there any way I could get feedback as to why my site has not been listed? Have you guys quit accepting submissions? I have had many other sites listed in the directory in the past!

I understand I am not supposed to link to specific sites on this forum so I will respect that but I will gladly send the link privately to an editor!

jimnoble · Dec 22, 2010

You might have misunderstood our objectives and how we operate here. ODP is a volunteer organisation building a directory as a hobby. Editors edit where they wish, when they wish and as much as they wish within the constraints of their permissions. We have no schedules or systems to force people to do work that they don't volunteer to do. ODP is not primarily a free listing service for website owners and it does not attempt to process their listing suggestions within the time scales desired by them.

Some volunteer will process your listing suggestion in time but we can't predict who or when that might be. Elapsed times can range from a few days to a few years. There is no need to re-suggest your website and doing so could be counter-productive because a later suggestion overwrites any earlier one.

mtienken · Dec 22, 2010

jimnoble said:
You might have misunderstood our objectives and how we operate here. ODP is a volunteer organisation building a directory as a hobby. Editors edit where they wish, when they wish and as much as they wish within the constraints of their permissions. We have no schedules or systems to force people to do work that they don't volunteer to do. ODP is not primarily a free listing service for website owners and it does not attempt to process their listing suggestions within the time scales desired by them.

Some volunteer will process your listing suggestion in time but we can't predict who or when that might be. Elapsed times can range from a few days to a few years. There is no need to re-suggest your website and doing so could be counter-productive because a later suggestion overwrites any earlier one.

Then it is unfortunate that links from the directory carry so much weight in the search providers algorithms. It is also unfortunate that Google uses you for their directory. Seems like they would want to rely on a more professional organization. Waiting literally years to be listed is ridiculous. I think this directory has outlived it's usefulness if you can't get sites listed in a reasonable time, volunteer or not.

jimnoble · Dec 22, 2010

It's unfortunate that you didn't comprehend what I told you.

It's unfortunate that you still believe the old folk lore that an ODP listing will cause riches to fall from the sky.

It's unfortunate that you believe that Google uses our data merely by chance or that they've deliberately made a poor decision. If the latter, perhaps you'd like to discuss the matter with them because we have no influence there.

Whatever, it seems like we'll have to agree to differ on this topic

.

carverguy · Dec 30, 2010

I'm with the Poster, I suggest you cease your operation. In my opinion you are exposed to legal recourse.

pvgool · Dec 30, 2010

Why should we stop with an activity that we only see as a hobby.

jimnoble · Dec 30, 2010

In my opinion you are exposed to legal recourse.

Fortunately, you're not a lawyer

shawakwak · Jan 3, 2011

The whole legal threat is nonsense. Why do people resort to that.

I think without a doubt the most frustrating part is there's no communication at all. I can wait, patience is not the issue. Are you accepted, rejected, in a queue, pending. if rejected why? Especially if you're a legitimate site. This can be very frustrating.

jimnoble · Jan 3, 2011

You can self-check whether or not a suggested website is listable here.

If it's listable, we'll list it (but we don't know when). If it isn't we won't.

Our objective here is to build and maintain a very general directory. I've never understood why some folks think that a suggested website deserves processing priority over one that has't been.

hutcheson · Jan 4, 2011

The whole legal threat is nonsense. Why do people resort to that?

There are a lot of really stupid bullies in the world. Some of them have slipped online.

It's rather counterproductive, since we volunteers didn't sign up to deal with either jerks OR legal issues. So--when someone makes a legal threat, then all dealings with that site are deferred to AOL legal, who DID sign up to deal with frivolous legal threats (but who did NOT sign up to review websites for the directory.) But some of those stupid bullies think that everyone else is as frightened of them as they are of ... reality.

On the other hand, it is probably productive for the editors, since honest website owners have more productive things to do than threaten perfect strangers with barratry.

crowhue · Jan 30, 2011

I have to say I am a little sympathetic to the poster (but there is no need in resorting to impoliteness or agression). DMOZ is referred to in virtually every how-to guide on SEO as a source of information for the major search engines and getting a listing is considered essential. It should surely be run properly and reliably rather than as a hobby. Ive applied to become an editor to help out in my chosen category about 4 or 5 months ago and no reply. Ive tried contacting editors for various appropriate categories and no reply. My site wholely meets the criteria stipluated.

Please, DMOZ editors, at least reply to emails that request your services. The world would be a happier place : )

You know it makes sense.

jimnoble · Jan 30, 2011

Please, DMOZ editors, at least reply to emails that request your services.

We discourage editors from communicating with website promoters because the ensuing conversations all too often end badly. Threats of violence and spam bombs are not unknown and there have been incidents of real life stalking. These tend to detract from the editing experience and demotivate.

The world would be a happier place : )

Not my experience.

People seeking advice will get a better response by posting in this forum (and some others). People wanting to gain processing precedence for their website over the some 2 or 300 million (I read it on the interwebs so it must be true) that we haven't yet listed are, to put it kindly, being unrealistic

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pvgool · Jan 30, 2011

crowhue said:
DMOZ is referred to in virtually every how-to guide on SEO as a source of information for the major search engines and getting a listing is considered essential.

Those wannabe-SEO-people don't know what they are talking about.
A DMOZ listing is in no way essential for a website.
There are many websites without a DMOZ listing that are doing extremely well.
There are even more websites with a listing that are not doing well at all.

Site submitted multiple times with no response

mtienken

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jimnoble

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mtienken

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carverguy

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shawakwak

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hutcheson

crowhue

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pvgool

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