The D’MISE of DMOZ

The Open Directory Project or DMOZ has long been criticized for a number of shortcomings (or prejudices), especially in the ‘article world’. Some of this could be ‘bad grapes’ but it is hard to ignore a lot of the damning retinue if you’ve ever submitted a website for their ‘consideration’.

Claims of being outdated, editors who are inactive or so rarely active it doesn’t make a difference and the simple, obvious fact that they can’t keep up with the amount of submissions are numerous and, as I said, for anyone who has ever submitted a website to DMOZ, unfortunately justifiable.

Then there are the allegations of editors (who are volunteers with, one might imagine, their own concerns and agendas) who will purposely exclude a website purely because it may compete with a website of their own, regardless of it’s value to the Internet community. A ghastly allegation but one to which I have never seen a response so, obviously, it remains just that, an allegation.

It is now estimated to take years to be listed in DMOZ, if you are fortunate enough to be one of the ‘chosen’. It’s reported that the estimated backlog of one million sites to be edited is referred to by DMOZ as simply a ‘pool of low priority’ websites that they can ‘dip into’ if need be. How do they know they are low priority if they haven’t been looked at?

The concept of a clean, reliable and accurate directory for the Internet was a noble and, at one time, promising one but now, it seems pretty unnecessary, especially with the quality of the results that the major Search Engines can return in a millisecond, as opposed to manually searching a directory.

Why do webmasters even bother to submit to DMOZ at all? Well, it is understood that Google especially, place a good degree of importance on a website being listed at DMOZ. At least that HAS been the understanding although, not too long ago, Google relegated the DMOZ adds and logo from their ‘Search’ page to… somewhere else. I think everyone can only see this as a loss of faith and perhaps a ‘downgrading’ of the weight that a DMOZ listing now carries with Google.

I have twice submitted (over 3 years) a single website of a medical nature, which supplies useful information, news and resources for people with a specific chronic illness. The website has HONCode (Health On the Net) accreditation, a prestigious Swiss organization, which lends authority and credibility to health related websites after rigorous review and adherence to a set of strict principles. It is difficult to achieve and well respected, yet the site has not been listed. What’s more annoying and unprofessional is I have NEVER received a reason or even an acknowledgement of receipt. Something that virtually every SE gives immediately by email.

Of course, the listing is DMOZ’s prerogative. Maybe they don’t see the website as worthwhile. Maybe it’s in their backlog or maybe it’s on their pile of ‘assumed’ low priority material. Who knows? However, I feel the more pertinent question should be, who cares?