Someone has placed us in OPD

Greetings,

Someone has submitted our site to ODP, And placed us under the incorrect catergory. The problem now we are in OPD we are placed in the wrong place. I have just submitted my site now but how do i get the submission of the site which was not done by us removed.

Thanks

First it is ODP (Open Directory Project) and not OPD

Everybody is allowed to suggest any site they want. It doesn't mather if they own or build the site or not.
Only editors can decide if a site will be listed and in which category this will be done.
So in your case somebody suggested the site, or maybe an editor found it himself in some other way, and an editor decided to list it in the category where it is listed in.
If you think this is not the best category you can make an update request and explain what you think is the right category and why you think so. But an editor will decide if your request is valid.

It is also worth trying to understand why the site was placed in that 'wrong' category. Consider that someone has looked at your site and come away with the wrong impression and acted upon it. Ok they may have had a 'duh' moment but they should have be looking at the site with a critical eye. If they made a mistake, what would surfers do?

There is sometimes a diferent view between editors and webmasters about what is the right category, so checking the descriptions on the 'wrong' category and the one you believe is right would also be an idea. If the categories do not have a description or it is brief, go up to a higher category.

Remember the editor will go by what is on the site, not what you know about yourself or what you intended. I have just come across a site for a club which was looking for new members but did not feel it necessary to say where they meet , which sort of defeats the idea of the site somewhat.

regards

If a site is already listed, and you think the listing is wrong, then the proper action to take is to suggest an "update" for the listing that is already there. (That feature is included because the editors do make mistakes.)

In the "reason" field of the form, mention where you think the site would best fit, and why.

But do this only once: you might have made a mistake also, and you don't want to get a reputation for being persistently wrong.

pvgool said:

First it is ODP (Open Directory Project) and not OPD

Everybody is allowed to suggest any site they want. It doesn't mather if they own or build the site or not.
Only editors can decide if a site will be listed and in which category this will be done.
So in your case somebody suggested the site, or maybe an editor found it himself in some other way, and an editor decided to list it in the category where it is listed in.
If you think this is not the best category you can make an update request and explain what you think is the right category and why you think so. But an editor will decide if your request is valid.

Click to expand...

pvgool, I read somewhere that google doggedly defends its stipulation that absolutely nobody can influence another website that does not belong to them.

Let me reiterate this please "nobody can influence your ranking in google". That is what google says. It says that it is impossible.

But we know that a DMOZ link can influence a websites ranking in google right?. A single link from DMOZ used to be the difference between a page 5 listing or a number I spot for a given keyword.

So if an editor, like you described, indiscriminately indexes a website without the knowledge of the webmaster or the site owner, and google harvested the link for later processing and weighing up the new found mega-ton link from DMOZ in its patented secret algo, would this not account for a meteoric rise of a websites ranking. An influence that bypasses a loophole in google? A method that belies what google indicates?

Sorry, I know that you have no interest in search engines or what they do. But I’m curious. Because you are supporting possible actions taken by an editor that does indeed influence a websites ranking in search engines and in particular google. If we take your opinion and accept that you have no interest in search technology or what google does. Does it not put a huge question mark on both what you are saying and what google is saying. Because both google and you are generating results in google with the use of the directory you are building.

I just had a look at some search results. DMOZ editor titles and description were the ones used by google. The meta title and description of the actual sites were much different. An influence of some sort is at play here. And it does not bode well for the integrity of either google or DMOZ.

So if an editor, like you described, indiscriminately indexes a website without the knowledge of the webmaster or the site owner, and google harvested the link for later processing and weighing up the new found mega-ton link from DMOZ in its patented secret algo, would this not account for a meteoric rise of a websites ranking. An influence that bypasses a loophole in google? A method that belies what google indicates?

Click to expand...

You really do need to talk to Google about what Google does with ODP data. As editors, we don't...and shouldn't...concern ourselves with what a user of our data does with our data as long as they are complying with our license requirements.

I just had a look at some search results. DMOZ editor titles and description were the ones used by google. The meta title and description of the actual sites were much different. An influence of some sort is at play here. And it does not bode well for the integrity of either google or DMOZ.

Click to expand...

Google offers webmasters the ability to tell Google not to use the ODP titles or descriptions.

I'm not quite sure what your point is here.

Google (which is really outside the scope of this forum) is free to ODP our data in accordance with our licence agreement, which they do to make their 'google directory'. They also sometimes use ODP titles and descriptions in their search results pages (presumably they think that they their users more useful information than the alternative of using text from the site itself. This is all Google's choice, and nothing to do with the ODP.

At the ODP we strive to create a useful and comprehensive human-edited web directory. The people we serve are surfers, not webmasters, and we do not really care how our editing affects sites' listings in google (or any other search engine) how they choose to use our data is up to them. That said, it's my understanding that a link in the ODP will be treated just like any other link in the google algorithm. It may be on the high end of some sort of authority weighting system, but at the end of the day it's just a link. Admitedly, if other sites choose to use our data and also link to listed sites, a site may get several links from one ODP listing. But again, such links are beyond our control.

Perhaps you should think of the additional links and Google's use of our titles and descriptions as validation that other people think our directory is indeed useful to surfers.

To address some of your specific points:

nobody can influence your ranking in google

Click to expand...

That's clearly untrue in the way that you're thinking -- anyone can add a link to a specific site, and thereby give a (possibly only slight) increase in that site's ranking.

A single link from DMOZ used to be the difference between a page 5 listing or a number I spot for a given keyword.

Click to expand...

I think that's a bit of an urban myth. Even if it was once true, it certainly isn't today.

chaos127 said:

I'm not quite sure what your point is here.

Google is free to ODP our data.

They also sometimes use ODP titles and descriptions in their search results

This is all Google's choice, and nothing to do with the ODP.

The people we serve are surfers, not webmasters

we do not really care how our editing affects sites' listings in google

a link in the ODP will be treated just like any other link in the google algorithm. It may be on the high end of some sort of authority weighting system

a site may get several links from one ODP listing.

But again, such links are beyond our control.

Perhaps you should think of the additional links and Google's use of our titles and descriptions as validation that other people think our directory is indeed useful to surfers.

anyone can add a link to a specific site, and thereby give a (possibly only slight) increase in that site's ranking.


I think that's a bit of an urban myth. Even if it was once true, it certainly isn't today.

Click to expand...

The above quotations are nothing less than a “WWW Book Of Revelations”

I have never read anything so unconcerned with a manufactured products performance.

Nonchalant and akin to an arms manufacturers style of language. Cares not about who purchases the product and for what reason.

“we do not really care how our editing affects sites' listings in google”

Unbelievable stuff. Damning evidence and a testament to the kind of world we live in.
.

OK, fun's fun but enough. Discussions of Google are way outside the scope of this forum. If you want to discuss Google, there are may other sites that will be happy to have you do that.

This discussion has ended. Please note that this is not an invitation to restart the discussion in another thread. Thanks.