FICTION: ODP is an Internet Directory for all websites
FACT: The ODP intends to be, and by all means is, a comprehensive web directory covering an extensive range of topics. Its aims are not to list every website on a given topic but to provide a wide range of ‘content’ on a given topic – these are two completely different things entirely. Its editors have only one main goal: To assist to build and maintain the worlds biggest, human edited, website directory for the sole benefit of the directory users.
FICTION: I am ‘entitled’ to a listing in ODP
FACT: Not by any stretch of the imagination One of the biggest factors in a human edited directory is the ‘discretion’ factor – this is clearly defined in the Guidelines and also on the Site Submission Agreement. Okay so what is discretion? It does not mean that an editor can simply delete your submission because they feel like it…..!!!! What it does mean is that an editor has to make the final decision to list the site based on various factors. The first and most important consideration is the compliance with the guidelines. The second is the correct categorisation of the submission and the final, and equally important part is whether the site would add value to the category within which it would normally be listed (ie. be useful to the end user of the directory). This is where the human factor really comes into play and believe me editors don’t always have an easy time deciding and often call on other editors for their opinions. Either way – entitled – definately not.
FICTION My site was rejected – ODP must think my site is rubbish?
FACT Not at all. Okay so of course there are many submitted sites that are, to say the least, crap (IMO) but it is never as clear cut as that. To be honest your site can be on a level par with a site already listed but still get rejected. Rejections are rarely an indication of poor design (unless the design makes viewing the content near impossibe) but more a case of other factors. Obviously as the editors are human, what one editor thinks is not useful may not be the view of every editor or even user but that is a floor in ‘human design’ and not the directory itself. It is because of the human factor that the directory is as big and successful as it is now.
FICTION My competitor got listed in a topical category so I should also be accepted – if not I am being victimised or it is editor abuse.
FACT Again a common misconception. Lets use an easy example. SiteA.com contains a massive source of information on Widgets and has been listed in the Widgets category. SiteB.com contains just as much information on Widgets, is just as useful, looks better, but on submission was rejected. From a submitters point of view it may be hard to understand why SiteA.com remains but SiteB.com was not listed. The simple answer to this example is ‘unique content’. SiteB.com may well provide just as much info as SiteA.com but, as SiteA.com is already listed, adding SiteB.com which contains information which is already available from SiteA.com will not add value to the category. To understand the reasoning behind this you need to first completely understand that the ODP does not have the goal of listing every site on a given topic – it is merely to list a varied amount of information on the given topic. The last thing that a directory user wants to do is visit the Widget category and be faced with 100 sites that contain nearly all the same information. If SiteB.com contains something ‘extra’ that the editor feel is not available elsewhere from the listed sites then it has the element of ‘unique’.
FICTION An editors job is to review submitted sites.
FACT Absolutely not. Reviewing submitted site is merely a small part of being an editor and infact is not to everyone liking. Editors volunteer to edit to help the directory grow and after a while they will soon find parts of editing that they prefer to do (just like any job). They may well enjoy processing new submissions, but then again they may prefer weeding out dead sites, correcting spelling mistakes, helping with restructuring, guiding new editors, deleting spammy/duplicate submissions or any other of the maintenance tasks. As volunteers editors kindly donate their time to ODP and ANY work they do is very much appreciated and every little job helps the directory – whether it be fixing one spelling mistake a week or weeking out 100 spam sites per day. There are many editors (I can be placed into this group) who would actualy be relieved if the submission feature was completely turned off for good. There is no doubt that submissions do help the directory to grow, that is not in dispute, however they also cause a lot more work and if they where no longer there a LOT of editor time would be available for more constructive directory input and the quality would improve no end. One has to rememer that some submitters follow the guidelines to the letter and submit their site to the single most appropriate category with an excellent description (we luvvvve these people).
But for every good submitter there are probably 300 users sending their site to an innapropriate category (meaning the site has to be reviewed, moved, and possible re-reviewed on its arrival at the right cat), 200 submitters submitting their site to every single category which has the slightest resemblance to what the site covers, 100 submitters who feel the need to submit 20 different URL’s that all arrive at the same website, 30 update requests because the submitter is not happy that we removed all of their heavily keyword stuffed/hyped description and even the submitter who feel the need to resubmit their site every week even thouh it has been listed for years….. and so on. Of course the figures are not official, merely examples, but I am sure you can get the idea of what editors are up against. A large amount of editors prefer to physically search the internet, phonebooks, newspapers, billboards and even adverts for websites to list. If they are helping the web directory they ARE doing there job.