Wider geography in listings

First off, I've been listed in ODP for several months and I'm very happy I would however like to find out why some sites show up in a higher more general level in the directory, while mine is filed geographically under my topic, then North America, then US, then my state. I guess I understand why it's better for ODP to file business sites in the states where they are headquartered, but I don't understand why some sites aren't filed this way and end up higher in the directory. And is it worth being concerned -- is there much of an effect on traffic?

Thanks in advance.

It's probably not worth being concerned.

As to how it happens: in the beginning, we didn't have the rich Regional coverage we do now, and most every business went into a Business or Shopping un-geographically-divided category. As those categories get bigger, they start getting divided (and geography is a natural division). The very biggest categories are listed only in Regional.

Sometimes not all the legacy listings get moved as the directory grows this way.

And sometimes there's a reason why some legacy listings DON'T get moved: for instance (real instance!) I list symphony orchestras by state and province, but what do you do when an orchestra persists in attributing to itself two city homes -- IN TWO DIFFERENT COUNTRIES? It stays listed by continent, which is perhaps not best ... but that's the way the taxonomy works (or almost works.)

I'm not sure I quite understand your question without knowing the category you're listed in, JeffG92772, but, I'll give it a shot as a state level editor in Regional.

A business could have two listings in the Directory, if it qualifies, one in a Topical category (like Business), and another listing in the locality (city/town/village) in which it's office is physically located (in the Regional section of the Directory).

In Regional, a business is listed in it's locality. If it has two offices, in two localities within the same county, it would be listed higher, at the county level.

If it had two offices, in two localities, but in two seperate counties that are in the same Region, then, it would be listed in the higher Region level.

If it had multiple offices throughout the state, then, it would be listed at the State level.

If it had offices in multiple states, then it would be listed at the Country or Country/Regions level.

I hope I haven't confused you, but, whether you are listed in a locality or a state level, really doesn't matter, the search engines will still pick you up.

Being listed at a higher level doesn't mean you get more exposure in a wider area, as you might in advertising, and if your competition is listed in a higher level of the Directory, it doesn't mean they have an advantage over you, or that they are considered more important, it just means they were placed there because that's where they best fit the way we organize sites, nothing more.

I can only speak about the Regional section of the Directory where I edit, I'm not familiar enough with a Topical section, such as Business or Shopping to be accurate.

Many site suggesters do a disservice to themselves and us by trying to get their site suggestion listed in a higher Regional category than they belong, thinking that they will get more exposure, which is false.

What happens is that editors, like myself, must spend a lot of time moving site suggestions from where a submitter would like to be listed, to where they have to be listed, instead of actually reviewing site suggestions and getting them listed.

It creates a lot of extra work for us and slows down the process.