A1 Web Promotion Tips

One of the most respected directories is the Open Directory Project, www.dmoz.org . It uses a large team of volunteer editors to look at sites and then place them in appropriate categories. The importance the ODP or DMOZ is that Google values this directory a great deal, and if your site is included in the ODP then your PageRank gets a boost.

The great problem with the ODP during the past few years is that it has taken months and even years to get listed. There are not enough editors to handle all the submissions, and there had also been accusations that some of the editors were adding sites to their categories only upon receiving a bribe.

This is a pretty dismal situation, but a situation that seems to have gotten even worse in recent months. During the last months of 2006 it became impossible to even try to make a submission and there were reports that the data base of the ODP, which is now part of AOL, was damaged and the survival of the project was in doubt. As of today, it is still impossible to make a submission.

But as the ODP in its current form nears death, there is a new possibility for the future. The originators of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia are interested in building a search directory that would be built along the lines of Wikipedia with contributions and suggestions coming from Internet users. This will be something to watch in 2007. If the proposed directory can gain the credibility that Wikipedia now has, then it will be a good balance to Google’s monopolization of online search.