I find that Google's use of DMOZ is extremely flawed. Google uses the
DMOZ database for it's searches, and places great weight on the sites
listed in DMOZ as if DMOZ editors had some great knowlegde and were
able to pick the greatest sites on the planet and kept out the riff
raff. I have a legitimate wedding videography site (
http://advancedvideo.50webs.com ) and have been trying to get into DMOZ
for months and have been completely ignored. This unfortunately affects
my Google ranking and this is really flawed. I know there are many
other factors in search engine ranking but when you have spent as much
time as I have have creating original content, back links, creating
text links on my site instead of graphics, no hidden text, and
everything else the SEO industry claims is the way to go, yet I have a
low score on Google search rankings, then that tells me they are rating
other sites above mine based on DMOZ inclusion only. When my site has a
PR 3 yet other sites with PR 0, less keywords, hidden text, and doorway
pages rank closer to the front of a search than mine does then there is
definately something wrong. Dmoz is impersonal, and untouchable. How do
you contact them? You Can't! How do you know why you are not being
included? You Don't! How do you know if and when your site will be
reviewed or included? You Dont! They don't want to be bothered. As the
old saying goes "With great power comes great responsibility." Dmoz
should take their resposibilities more seriously or bow out of the game
all together. Google should not use such a system that answers to no
one and does only as it pleases and listens to no one. On MSN and Yahoo
my site ranks very well, but on Google it's terrible. This tells me
that Googles system of using DMOZ is really flawed.

You are wrong in your ***upmtion that Google gives any additional
weight to a listing in DMOZ - its nothing more than a good link to
have. Google does not use DMOZ for its search database. 1000's of sites
rank well without a DMOZ listing.

seo101 wrote:
> You are wrong in your ***upmtion that Google gives any additional
> weight to a listing in DMOZ - its nothing more than a good link to
> have. Google does not use DMOZ for its search database. 1000's of sites
> rank well without a DMOZ listing.

Saying I'm wrong is easy, telling me why, is not so easy. Take a look
at my site with a critical eye and tell me why it's doing poorly in the
searches. Be honest with me, you wont hurt my feelings. When you look
up terms like Orange county wedding videographer, or Los Angeles
wedding videographer, Southern california wedding videographer, or
orange county videographer, my site ( http://advancedvideo.50webs.com )
doesn't show up on Google searches. Now do those same terms on Yahoo
and MSN and I am usually in the top 10 or top 25. I have plenty of good
links, good informative articles, yet other sites with no information
at all, show up more than mine. Why? If you don't believe DMOZ is
playing a factor, then what is?

You are probably being penalized for that spammy list of keywords.

The main ranking factor for google is keywords in the anchor text of
backlinks - none of the few links I checked had your keywords as the
anchor text...

INSANE! Their editor made a TYPO in the description of my site, which
totally screws up my SE ratings, and GOOGLE is relying on them! Google
refuses to reply to me, DMOZ refuses to reply in ANY way. The system is
flawed, to the point where a competitor could have become an editor and
relegated me to being #1 when searching for a key LINE pie,
unfortunately I make a key LIME pie.

www.stevesauthentic.com

"Google does not use DMOZ for its search database. "

Then why is my sites description the one that some dolt at DMOZ wrote,
including a typo? My OWN site description is nowhere to be found,
simply the "editorialized" description that still lingers uncorrected
on DMOZ.

http://www.stevesauthentic.com

I think you will find the error is at your end - check your HTML

> You are wrong in your ***upmtion that Google gives any additional
weight to a listing in DMOZ - its nothing more than a good link to
have. Google does not use DMOZ for its search database. 1000's of sites

rank well without a DMOZ listing.

Bollocks.

http://www.quattroownersclub.com is moribund but DMOZ-listed.

http://www.quattroforum.com is very, very active but not DMOZ-listed.

Guess which one comes top, despite that being quite the contrary of
what would be actually USEFUL to a quattro owner.

DMOZ is as corrupt as hell. I've been asked for monex ba a DMOZ editor.

EMAIL REMOVED wrote:
> > You are wrong in your ***upmtion that Google gives any additional
> weight to a listing in DMOZ - its nothing more than a good link to
> have. Google does not use DMOZ for its search database. 1000's of sites
>
> rank well without a DMOZ listing.
>
> Bollocks.
>
> http://www.quattroownersclub.com is moribund but DMOZ-listed.
>
> http://www.quattroforum.com is very, very active but not DMOZ-listed.
>
> Guess which one comes top, despite that being quite the contrary of
> what would be actually USEFUL to a quattro owner.
>
> DMOZ is as corrupt as hell. I've been asked for monex ba a DMOZ editor.

A little known fact also is when you check out the list of editors it
looks as if DMOZ has a huge list of editors. In actuality they only
have a few, and fewer yet are active. The amount of editors that they
show you is a cumulative number of editors that they have ever had from
their begining. So who knows how few their editors really are. Any
organisation or person that hides behind extreme secrecy is a bad
thing. The only thing that guarantees good quality results is open and
free flowing communication. Maybe Google managers will read these
articles and find out the extend to which people are really having
problems with DMOZ. I would suggest anyone who reads this, post their
experiences. You may think that it wont affect anything, but in time
enough voices can make a difference. I used to use Google ALL the time
for my searches. Now I find they are becoming irrelevant. Now I find
more relevant searches at MSN and secondly at Yahoo. If Google doesn't
listen it can one day go from a giant to an unknown. It's happened
before with big companies and it WILL happen again. DMOZ started out as
a good idea whos time has p***ed. May it rest in peace!

Google just started a new directory offering with Google Coop on
http://www.google.com/coop/directory
My ***umption is that Google will replace DMOZ by their own Coop
directory and that they started now.
Page says 98% of what will exist in 10 years "has yet to be done, and
we won't get there by looking at what other companies are doing."

What about Google Coop? Users can sign up at
www.google.com/coop/directory to subscribe to free health information
from several organizations, including the federal Centers for Disease
Control, the Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente. Their tips on the best
health data will show up in search results. Google Coop also offers
city guide information for more than 300 cities, including London and
New York. Coop is designed to let organizations label Web pages
relevant to their areas of expertise.