US sites vs. other countries

When browsing general categories of ODP (such as Shopping/ or Society/) I find that many of the sites there are United States oriented, especially in the Shopping/ category. Shouldn't those be located under the Regional/ tree? Or isn't ODP a global project?

Just one example. In http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Niche/Politics/ there is site http://www.therepublicanstore.com/ . Would you list in that category any local political party shop from anywhere in the world if they deliver their products to anywhere in the world? Or would a Sierraleonean political party, for instance, end up in Regional/ tree?

The topic of US-bias came up recently in our internal discussion forums. In short, we try hard to avoid bias of any kind, whether it's towards a particular nation, company or viewpoint. For example, we have both a pro-Microsoft category and an anti-Microsoft one.

Since many editors are from the US, and the US is one of the largest countries on the web, it is only natural that the US shows dominance. However, this isn't intentional, and does not mean that we would reject non-US sites.

Of course I understand that the great bulk of content comes from the United States. But is a US targeted company less "regional" than, for instance, one targeted to European or African market?

Another example. Site http://www.hemptwine.com/ says that "Since 1992 when we opened our doors in Seattle, it has been the company’s mission to reintroduce to the North American marketplace, useful products made from the fibers of the hemp plant (cannabis sativa)." If you want to order, there is a US toll-free telephone number to do it.

Shouldn't that site be in http://dmoz.org/Regional/North_America/United_States/Business_and_Economy/Shopping/ and not in http://dmoz.org/Shopping/Niche/Green_Living/Hemp_Products/ where it currently is?

Or what is the http://dmoz.org/Regional/North_America/United_States/Business_and_Economy/Shopping/ category for if US companies are listed in general categories?

It could go in both, I think.

The Regional/.../US/.../Shopping category is basically for stores with 'bricks and mortar' locations throughout the states.

Online shopping sites which ship throughout the US are listed in Shopping/.

Thanks Marisa1116 and others. So, do I understand it correctly if that means that from the viewpoint of ODP being located in the United States is less regional than being located somewhere else in the world?

I didn't address one of the questions in your first post:

If a site ships anywhere in the world, they can be listed in Shopping. The only online shopping sites that will be listed in Regional are basically those with a limited scope of delivery. So a French company that sells online only to customers in France will be listed in France/.../Shopping.

And, yes, the US is the exception.

And that's annoying to a non-US user of the directory. I try to find sites with products that I'm interested in and when I find one they do not deliver outside US.

If ODP is to be a global project those categories should be truly global.

Don't get irritated because you don't find what you want looking in the wrong category. Just go to the right category, which, if your interest is a region that doesn't have a lot of English-language companies, is better served in Regional, than mixed up in generic multinational English-language shopping.

As the ODP grows, the regional shopping directories will become more important, but you can confidently expect the Shopping tree (multinational or multistate shippers) will always be dominated by US/Canada, with UK/Ireland and Australia/NZ as lesser centers. (and, of course, for geographic reasons, UK/Ireland and Australia/NZ are likely to be the first places recognized as needing their own shopping subtree.)