Interesting article I found- Dmoz Extortion

[buckshotdots]

Interesting article I came accross-

http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/08/26/dmoz-extortion/

Dmoz Extortion

A while back I got a email from a guy claiming to be a DMOZ editor saying that I had to pay him $5,000.00 or he would have my site: shoemoney.com removed from the dmoz.

I thought nothing of it…. then today I got a email from him saying it was removed and I might want to rethink not paying him. I thought I would check just for grins.

It was removed… WOW

dmoz… corrupt… no…..

I never thought I would say this but I don’t even care anymore. I am stunned Google still uses this as there business directory as its the most corrupt “editorial” system EVER and especially since now they are trying to talk about paid links and crap…

Seriously I would love to see how they defend this one… How does shoemoney.com NOT belong in DMOZ??

Google seriously its time for you to aquire a business directory that has paid inclusion. There is so much porn and spam in the dmoz its a huge black eye for you. Business.com just got scooped up but there is another one that might be able to get got for a nice price *cough* best of the web *cough*

DUMP DMOZ

 

[.X.]

Interesting article I came accross-

http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/08/26/dmoz-extortion/

Dmoz Extortion

A while back I got a email from a guy claiming to be a DMOZ editor saying that I had to pay him $5,000.00 or he would have my site: shoemoney.com removed from the dmoz.

I thought nothing of it…. then today I got a email from him saying it was removed and I might want to rethink not paying him. I thought I would check just for grins.

It was removed… WOW

dmoz… corrupt… no…..

I never thought I would say this but I don’t even care anymore. I am stunned Google still uses this as there business directory as its the most corrupt “editorial” system EVER and especially since now they are trying to talk about paid links and crap…

Seriously I would love to see how they defend this one… How does shoemoney.com NOT belong in DMOZ??

Google seriously its time for you to aquire a business directory that has paid inclusion. There is so much porn and spam in the dmoz its a huge black eye for you. Business.com just got scooped up but there is another one that might be able to get got for a nice price *cough* best of the web *cough*

DUMP DMOZ

here ya go http://directory.google.com/

That is the only paid inclusion directory that i know of, that google has.

 

[wikes82]

DMOZ Extortion

This guy from shoemoney.com received an e-mail from someone claiming to be DMOZ editor asking for $5000 or he would remove the site (shoemoney.com) from DMOZ
and guess what... he really did remove the site from DMOZ list.

http://www.shoemoney.com/2007/08/26/dmoz-extortion/

 

[Damion]

If it's true it's a new low from DMOZ.

 

[Peter]

Directories such as DMOZ and ZEAL are editor based. Anyone can become an editor. This extortion attempt has nothing to do with DMOZ but is most likely someone who has passed the tests necessary to become an editor (I was an editor at 1 point on ZEAL but stopped doing it).

The person this happened too should report the matter to DMOZ they should have logs on what editor deleted the link and they should be removed for abusing their position.

here ya go http://directory.google.com/

That is the only paid inclusion directory that i know of, that google has.

Google uses (and gives a lot of weight) to the open directory. If you look on the link you provided you will see a link at the bottom of the page stating:-

Open Directory Project

which leads too :-

http://dmoz.org/about.html

The Google directory is based upon DMOZ (you will also see a link which shows how to become an editor for DMOZ)

 

[Peter]

Have just been speaking with someone who goes around SEO forums. It turns out shoemoney (the author of this post) is an SEO. He posts such threads to get links back to his forum (obviously to increase pagerank and other rankings)

 

[dhscott]

http://www.namepros.com/industry-ne...found-dmoz-extortion.html?highlight=shoemoney

^

 

[Peter]

http://www.namepros.com/industry-ne...found-dmoz-extortion.html?highlight=shoemoney

^

Was that directed to me? I meant the author of the blog post not the namepros post.

 

[buckshotdots]

If he does this to get listed on forums for seo backlinks etc then should this post be deleted? I had no idea....

gary-

 

[Peter]

in the grand scheme of things it will not back much difference.

Apparently he is quite well known for these types of tactics. He also prides himself on the fact he ranks number 1 for shoemonkey but how many people actually search for that. He must be a great SEO expert to manage to rank number 1 for a term nobody would search for.

 

[shockie]

dmoz has definitely gone downhill. back in the good old days i'm sure it was a great directory that was actually useful, but now it's time for google to re-evaluate its significance.

 

[Joseph]

Its just link bait.

$500 would be more credible.

 

[labrocca]

hmm...Shoemoney is a big regular over at DP. He is famous for his big Google Adsense check for $137k in one month. He does make substantial income. Now the problem is that a LOT of Dmoz editors are actually unscrupulous webmasters...I mean how many regular internet users even know about DMOZ? It's old and nearly irrelevent except that it does actually help you get ranked well in SERPs because sadly...google uses them as a trusted reference.

What I find believable is a DP member becomes a DMOZ editor and makes this attempt to extort money from ShoeMoney. He is called that btw because he made a small fortune as a shoe retailer but is now a full time internet guru.

Now you can surely blame the editor and dismiss DMOZ in this but I don't. They have proven to be unfair imho. I have had great sites delisted for no apparent reason. And if you submit a site...heaven help you in getting it approved. There is ZERO transparency. Imagine open source code but they encode it. Yeah stupid I know but that's DMOZ. Unlike wikipedia you never know who or why a category page was changed or by whom. A competitor in a category could become an editor and remove the best links.

 

[Kelli]

With so so many categories without edits for years now, and stories like this, as well as other abusive stories that pop up from time to time, why does Google still use them?

 

[mbuna]

I was a zeal editor for years and managed 10 or so categories. I applied several times at dmoz for categories that had no editors and not once did I even get a reply. The categories I applied for are still without editors.

I used to care about dmoz and have about 20 sites listed in them, but haven't submitted one in years. Except for googles use they are essentially irrevelant.