Waiting since 2 years to get listed!

Hi,

I am trying to get listed since 2 years into this category:

http://www.dmoz.org/Regional/Europe/Finland/Society_and_Culture/Expatriate_Life/

but have no success. Can anybody tell me if this category is still maintained or if there is something wrong with my website? I would really appreciate your assistance. My site got also listed on official sites related to this country but on DMOZ I have really no luck even so I think that my content is unique

Can anybody assist me?

Over 200 editors can work in that category if they so choose. If you look at the bottom of the category page, you'll see when one of them last did.

We don't know (or want to know) what your website is. Some editor will process it in time and decide whether or not it's listable at that time.

I saw the date changed several times at the bottom but my site didn't appear there.

is it possible that some editors work for listed sites in this category and don't want to have my site listed because they see me as a competitor? My site is not a commercial site but an information site and even got listed on embassy sites of this country.

abroad said:

I saw the date changed several times at the bottom but my site didn't appear there.

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There are many reasons an editor may do some work in a category without reviewing sites (e.g. an update to a listed site, error correction)

is it possible that some editors work for listed sites in this category and don't want to have my site listed because they see me as a competitor?

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Highly unlikely - for a start there is no editor listed for that category and editors with wider editing permissions are those that are interested in producing a directory, not promoting another agenda.

Basically the reason that a site is not listed is usually because no editor has reviewed it yet and the timescales are long due to the numbers of editors (many of whom find it more productive and fun to search out sites themselves). Eventually your site will be reviewed (and hopefully listed) so the best thing to do, is to promote your site in other ways.

regards

A directory is from my point of view a collection of good websites. If the category is updated several times a year but nobody cares about the link suggestions (especially if it is a niche category where maybe 2 or 3 sites apply per months) what is the use of a directory?

I have references from Universities, Cities, Embassies, etc. linking to my page and I consider this as a good reference for the quality of my website.

Almost none of the sites which are already listed in this category even appear on those sites I am listed with my site.

So how do exactly editors judge if a website is suitable or not for the directory? I can't imagine that nobody of those editors have noticed my site after 2 years.

Help is appreciated.

A directory is from my point of view a collection of good websites. If the category is updated several times a year but nobody cares about the link suggestions (especially if it is a niche category where maybe 2 or 3 sites apply per months) what is the use of a directory?

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The collection of websites is arranged in a collection of categories and, with 4.5million sites in nearly 600,000 categories in the ODP, scale comes into play.

Most people think of editors working within a single category (usually the one they are interested in ) and formulate questions as yours. There are several thousand editors that only edit in a single category but the majority of categories rely on visiting editors.

One priority of these editors is quality control which means removing or correcting links. After that adding sites comes into play. Here the editor will work according to their interests and on 'need'. However given the large number of categories compared to editors we can not predict when an editor will visit any particular category or what they will do when they get there.

Were I to decide a particular category 'needs me' to look at it, the suggestion pool is a place where I can (hopefully) find good sites to review for potential listing. In some areas the pool is full of spam.

regards

abroad said:

I have references from Universities, Cities, Embassies, etc. linking to my page and I consider this as a good reference for the quality of my website.

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This is of not something we look ate when reviewing a site.

So how do exactly editors judge if a website is suitable or not for the directory?

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When we review a site we look for enough unqiue content.
On http://www.dmoz.org/guidelines/include.html we have guidelines for editors which sites to include and which sites not to include.

I can't imagine that nobody of those editors have noticed my site after 2 years.

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I can. All editors do this for a hobby. First you need an editor that is interested enough in the subject to look at the category. Than that editor must be interested enough to look at the suggested websites. And maybe he/she looses interest after looking at only a few if the suggested sites and the other suggested sites will have to wait until the next time an editor has enough interest.

There are many editors and each has his/her own interests. As a result there are many categories that get attention from an editor. But there are also many categories that (at this moment) do not get much attention. That is not a problem. The directory as a whole is constantly growing in quantity and quality although some parts of it might not. And who knows maybe tomorrow someone will have interest in such a subject. It might be a current editor or someone who still has to apply to become one. We don't know.

Help is appreciated.

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Sorry, we can and will not provide help to indivuals to get their website listed. Getting websites listed is not what DMOZ is about.

my website has 2000 users which contribute to the site. I can't imagine that they do not produce unique content.

If you are sure that your site is listable and it is not listed than you can be sure that it is still waiting review. Please be patient. Someday it will be reviewed.

Maybe in my next life

It is really had to get listed in DMOZ. You have to ensure your site's quality before trying to submit into DMOZ.

The "Quality" issue reveals the reality of the ODP. It does not live up to its own mantra regarding quality and uniqueness of content. In just about any category (especially those with high commercial interest) there are plenty of low quality, unoriginal content websites that according to the gods of ODP (aka editors) shouldn't be there, while many high quality websites never get in. Why are they there? It is a proven fact that some editors are editors to promote their own commercial interests. I know a few myself who admit this privately. This is accomplished by denying or ignoring submissions, or extorting money from site owners who desperately want to get in. There are many examples of "paying" to get in. There may be some honest editors who have limited time and do not engage in such nefarious activity. However, to pretend that ODP editors are immune to corruption and are somehow elite in the realm of morality is naive at best, intellectually dishonest at worst.
The commercial power of inclusion in the ODP is still strong, therefore it lends itself to corruption. Its association with Google is the only thing that makes it worth anything. If Google decided to stop using the ODP, it would fade away into obscurity. It is because of this strong commercial interest that developed over the past 10 years that has made the ODP important at all. Yet THEY pretend that is not the case. The whole attempt to get listed is a waste of time unless you know an editor, are an editor or are ready to pay the piper.

It is because of this strong commercial interest that developed over the past 10 years that has made the ODP important at all.

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It's because of the noncommercial interest of the editors that has made the ODP ... period. Without it, there would be nothing TO be "commercially interested in", and nothing TO be "important at all".

Beyond that, it's because of the noncommercial effort of the editors that made the ODP as it is, something WORTH being used by various portals.

Now, obviously there is corruption in the world. But it's misleading to call them "corrupt editors". The source and target of the corruption can be 100% attributed to vicious website owners. It is they who try (often unsuccessfully) to suborn editors; it is they who try (often unsuccessfully) to gain editing privileges under false pretenses.

It's not "corrupt editors". It's not even corrupt businesses--the real businesses are really victims also. It's 100% corrupt internet advertisers, who are eager to abuse editors, surfers, businesses for their own sordid gain.

But the result, in either case is -- yes, the internet is filled with corruption. And whether the corruption is people hijacking former legitimate websites for advertising, or abusing editing privileges for their own marketing, or concealing the real identity of businesses behind layers of hidden redirection ... everyone online is victimized. Google. The ODP. Consumers. Genuine providers of goods and services. Surfers.

It's an unending battle, no doubt. I find myself more and more in sympathy with Poul and Kornbluth's vision of a future where advertising was a criminal (capital!) offense.

(And yes, I have friends who have worked as manufacturers' representatives, whose ethics and judgment I respect, who say it is conceivably possible to commit an ethical act of marketing. I just don't think it happens often enough to matter.)

onlinemarketing said:

It is really had to get listed in DMOZ. You have to ensure your site's quality before trying to submit into DMOZ.

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If official institutions list my site on their own sites then I suppose the quality of my site is good and I don't sell anything on my site too.

When reviewing a website we do NOT look at
- quality
- links from other websites
- if you sell something or not

We only look for enough unique content.
Recently a post was written on the official DMOZ blog about this subject
http://blog.dmoz.org/2009/07/29/what-is-unique-content/

and again...if I have 1500 people contributing to the site nobody can tell me that there is not enough unique content

and again...if I have 1500 people contributing to the site nobody can tell me that there is not enough unique content

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And nobody has told you there isn't

If you have an interest in the subject, perhaps you'd consider volunteering to edit the category? Regional/Europe/Finland/Society_and_Culture/Expatriate_Life looks like a good category for a new editor who wants to build a resource for expatriates in Finland. That you have a site that might belong in the category doesn't matter, as long as you are scrupulously fair, stick to the editing guidelines, and don't treat your own site differently from any other site.

Just click "Volunteer to edit this category" at the bottom of the category page, and please make sure you follow the instructions for filling out the application. There is some good advice about applying to become an editor here.

well I actually had the idea already...I filled out 3 times the application as I got 2 times a rejection that I didn't mention all my online experience I had so far (so it seems that they know more than I do). After the third application I didn't hear anything anymore (was 2 months ago or so).

abroad, I've posted a reply here yesterday night (GMT-3) but It got removed by a moderator. Sorry.

I have read your posting before it got removed. Thanks a lot for your comment!

I think this Forum is useless too. No real help from the Moderators except read the guidelines and wait.