Pro-SEO

Dmoz, Or the Open directory project, has had years of being the number one directory on the internet thanks to to it's huge amount of catagories, Strict acceptance policy, Open database and the fact that many search engines relied on it for indexing.
But has the time come to pull the plug on dmoz? I think it has.

As we move into the "web 2.0" era there isn't room for stuffy old sites that don't actually do anything. I can't imagine the dmoz directory being of any real use to anyone anymore. We go to search engines to find information now, Not to a directory that contains less than 1% of the sites on the internet.

This isn't just an anti-dmoz rant. There are arguments for and against dmoz, I guess, Though unfortunately i can only think of arguments against, If you can think of an argument for Dmoz, Besides a free backlinks for webmasters argument, Please let me know.

So i have compiled a list that I'm going to call "Matts Top * Reasons To Kill DMOZ"

1. Catastrophic system failure - In case you don't know, For a couple of weeks now dmoz has been running off of static cached pages because some clever sausage decided to completely delete the admin server. This has meant editors can't login, Admin can't login and no new sites can be listed. Sombody has likened the process for fixing this like "trying to glue back together a vase after it has been completely smashed".
2. Corrupt Editors - The debate has been raging for some time regarding corrupt editors over at Dmoz. I have personally had no experience with this and i am unable to give any names, but think about it, Why would an editor accept sites into dmoz if those sites are competing with his own sites?
   Not all editors on dmoz are going to be corrupt, But it only takes a few to make dmoz as a whole worthless.
3. Lack of editors - Some catagories have no editors at all. Let's face it, Who would want to go through all the crap that gets submitted to dmoz looking for quality sites to include in a directory nobody uses? It's a boring, thankless task.
4. We have search engines now - These days the last place someone is going to look for information is in a directory that doesn't even list 1% of the sites on the internet, Especially when thier search algorithm is below poor. We just "google it", Right?
5. Nothing done about changed or dead sites - Dmoz works under the assumption that after a site is created the site will remain on the internet forever and will always be the same site. But now we have a "dynamic web" where sites are changing all the time, Dmoz has no system for searching for and identifying sites that have changed thier subject or are no longer online

Dmoz is a web 0.1 site trying to stay alive in a web 2.0 world. It's time to let it pass with dignity so we can kick it to the curb and move on to bigger and better things.

Labels: directory, dmoz, seo

This entry was posted on Monday, December 18, 2006 at 12/18/2006. You can skip to the end and leave a response.