If you were on the Internet in the Late 90’s, and even recent years, you probably knew about the DMOZ.
You might have also known it under the name ‘Open Directory Project’. This directory has been a thorn in the sides of search engine marketers for quite a while. Myself included.
Why all the hostility? Google counted a link/listing in the DMOZ very heavily when ranking sites. The directory was run and edited by volunteers, normally a laudable effort.
Unfortunately, like many of these types of projects, the directory was hijacked by its own editors. At least in certain areas.
It was not uncommon for an Editor to block competitors from being listed in the directory, thereby denying them any boost in ranking that they might have gotten.
For example, one alleged example was a lawyer who saw to it that no other attorney was given space in the section he ruled over. All search engine benefit was reserved for him, and him alone.
An editor could always claim that their competitor’s site was not one of ‘quality’, giving them a cover for the real reason behind the rejection. There were even cases where an editor’s site had multiple listings.
As you can guess, this was supposed to be against the rules of the DMOZ.
Add into that mix the deluge of listing requests by everyone trying to up their Google rank and you have a backlog that rivals the line for Pink Floyd tickets back in the day. But with less ‘wacky tobbacky’.
Basically you made a submission and then forgot about it. The official line was that the wait was 3 to 6 months before a listing would go up.
If it was accepted. Any efforts to check up would get the standard ‘We’re working on it’ retort. Most people never saw their submission accepted.
That would have been okay if there had been some oversight; and if Google hadn’t given them so much influence. Unfortunately, it bred contempt and link greed.
Any complaint about editors was met with the ‘sour grapes’ argument. That was valid in some cases, but not all.
It seems that the DMOZ is finally on its way out. It is rarely, if ever, updated today. Then again, that’s how it always was. But it doesn’t have much influence on your Google/Search engine ranking now.
It’s a lesson for the open-source/user-provided content world. It’s a great concept and it does work. Sometimes. But there needs to be some kind of check and balance system in place.
For now – let me say ‘Good Riddance, to you, DMOZ, and to all your sand-bagging editors’.