MyPE

Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

Who remembers DMOZ?

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I was asked by a client today what the significance of of the Open Directory Project (DMOZ) is.

Imagine if you will the early days of the Internet where trusted web sites linked out to other web sites that they trusted. In effect this way the only way that one could surf the Internet and discover more exciting and free content.

Then along came DMOZ who established a directory that listed web sites categorised by interest, region and country.

DMOZ in one way is a relic of the Internet in that it is the most widely distributed data base of Web content classified by humans. Its editorial standards body of netizens provided the collective brain behind resource discovery on the Web. The Open Directory went on to power the core directory services for the Web’s largest and most popular search engines and portals, including Netscape Search, AOL Search, Google, Lycos, HotBot, DirectHit, and hundreds of others.

The Open Directory was established in the footsteps of some of the most important editor/contributor projects of the 20th century. Just as the Oxford English Dictionary became the definitive word on words through the efforts of volunteers, the Open Directory follows in its footsteps to become the definitive catalog of the Web.

The Open Directory was founded in the spirit of the Open Source movement, and is the only major directory that is 100% free. There is not, nor will there ever be, a cost to submit a site to the directory, and/or to use the directory’s data. The Open Directory data is made available for free to anyone who agrees to comply with a free use license.

See the Port Elizabeth listings on The Open Directory – do try and list, become an editor or use the ODP.

As the original definitive directory established on the highest principles of sharing good information on the internet, DMOZ predates Google.

In the early days Google and other search engines entered into an agreement with DMOZ to use their information in order to build their respective search engines. In the early days of Search Engine Optimisation, DMOZ was THE player in the directory market and successful inclusion in DMOZ virtually guaranteed a top spot on Google and Yahoo.

Fast forward a couple of years and Google have forgotten DMOZ and, are now using obfuscation and making people wary of listing on directories saying that directories have to be ‘high quality’ and should use no-follow.

This, I think, is in pursuit of their ultimate goal to control ALL content and traffic to that content.

Unfortunately the sheep believe the hype and ‘threats’ and are also shying away from quality directories.

So what about the MyPE Business Directory you may ask?

The MyPE (and other My Directories) are all highly focused and deny listings to many people. Also we allow people WITHOUT web sites to list their business. Through this MyPE gets hold of content that Google is unable to, in effect Google benefit from the MyPE (and other) directories as they are a source of content that they cannot reach via their spider and are one of the many ways that MyPE tries, to paraphrase Google; “Do good and not evil.”

In addition MyPE highlights 041 based businesses on many of the ‘traditional’ news pages (see the end of this article) as well as providing the reader with a quick link to the essential contact information for Port Elizabeth businesses listed.

When listing on directories or even doing blog or article posts you need to ask yourself these questions:

  1. Am  I listing or guest posting because I believe that by doing so I will get quality focused traffic from the web site or directory? If the answer is YES then go for it.
  2. Am I listing because I want another link back to my site that will only be seen by search engines and not derive any direct benefit in terms of marketing and increased visitors? If the answer is YES then don’t do it.
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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.