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DMOZ 2.0 Rumored to Launch at End of March
There have been many reports and rumors about the forthcoming Open Directory Project overhaul, dubbed DMOZ 2.0, from as far back as March 2008. Recent info has hinted at the End of Q1. But just yesterday (Thu. Feb. 11th 2010), there was a strong rumor of a dmoz.org launch that might set one of the last days of March as the Full Launch date.
So what exactly is going to change with the launch of Dmoz 2.0?
Well I’m not really sure as exact details are a little fuzzy. So to find out more I decided to roam around the web and see what I would dig up. From what I could find, which was not much, it looks like this is going to be a complete overhaul of how the data is stored, accessed and presented. This update should allow the directory to evolve in a way that it never really has been able to. And since it has largely been in the same shape for the past 10 years, this can only be a good thing for the once mighty DMOZ.
Does this mean sites will get reviewed, approved and listed sooner?
The short answer is No. 2.0 does not currently appear to provide an update for submissions and editing.
But a deeper answer would be that this may lead to the development of additional tools that could help editors analyze websites and identify higher quality sites based on common non-dmoz data metrics, like say if the URL was also listed in the Yahoo Directory or Best of the Web.
This may also lead to more excitement among editors and spur increased editing time as well as more interest in people becoming new editors.
You never know how this will shake things up at the ODP. But I now have a reason to look forward to the end of March other than the melting of the 2 foot deep snow in my yard and the 4 foot long ice hanging from my roof.
![Icicles Winter 2010 Snow & Icicles Winter 2010](https://www.webranking.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/at-home-Icicles-003-300x225.jpg)
Snow & Ice February 2010
So what do you think about DMOZ 2.0? Is this really going to change things at the Open Directory? Feel free to share your thoughts.
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Reader Comments
Oh, be careful about posting screenshots. I’m pretty sure you will be receiving an email or two about this post.
ODP/AOL tends not like it when people leak this much info.
The problem with DMOZ has not been in how the data is stored, but rather how the site is (mis)managed. Any Google search on DMOZ will reveal frustrations by webmasters, allegations of editors being paid off, alleged corruption, and questions as to why Google continues to use their data. And these will date back many years.
I would like to see AOL step up and “take care of their stepchild” to make it a valued online resource; because it does have potential. Most people that I respect in the industry have all but given up on DMOZ. It will take more than “better data storage” to win back the hearts of webmasters.
I think DMOZ is a great resource, there are few large scale human edited web directories out there, and having a listing in DMOZ more or less guarentees that the website is not spammy. The only problem that I see with DMOZ at present is that it seems to be quite slow in recognising when the old domains expire or become reregistered by spammers.
Myke, Dmoz has an assortment of automated tools that crawl listings to check for 404’s. They automatically tag them as 404, remove them from the active site, and place them back into the review section for an editor to manually review.
Now that does not necessarily account for expired domains that become re-registered and never show up as 404 when there has been no lag time in hosting.
in the directory have long to clean up
I am a DMOZ editor. I became one 8 years ago approx. and edited practically a complete section. I then got on with my real life and left it for a few years. Recently I re-applied to be an editor again and was accepted (eventually – what a mission that was!).
Anyway, even though most of the edits I did are still there, every new edit or site I have added has been rejected by my supervising editor, and I mean EVERY single one of them. I am using the same style, short to the point sentences. No adjectives etc. etc.
I feel for the many who regularly email me (my email is freely available on DMOZ) complaining that their perfectly legitimate site has been ignored. There is nothing I can do for them.
I REALLY hope DMOZ 2 improves this, though I somehow doubt it. God knows why the site is deemed an ‘authority’s site. The info on most of it is WAY out of date.
To be honest, this news would have excited me, say, four or five years ago. At this day, I’d be more happy to hear that having a DMOZ entry or not is ignored by all the major online services – because I do ignore DMOZ since years.
The site’s idea is great, but the way it’s handled is hell. So I prefer to avoid it altogether, and it doesn’t sound like the upcoming relaunch will change any of THESE things.
Dmoz is doing more harm than good and should be shut down. It certainly is not open because of all the issues that are widely know yet Google places too much emphasis on it. Every webmaster should do their bit to have this disgraceful thing shut down.
DMOZ 2.0 will absolutely not make a difference. All the kings technology and all the kings editors will not change DMOZ. It is stuck in “group think”. It is a harmful organization to businesses who invest time and money to get their brand marketed.
They would need a “signifigant emotional event” i.e. Google dumping them, in order to realize they have not kept pace. What the Internet needs is a professional society such as “ISO standards” by which sites can become certified. This certification would provide an assurance to the end user and a metric for measurment of web site quality.
It would also provide the industry a baseline upon which to improve quality and organization. DMOZ editors could begin editing Facebook pages or watch Youtube videos in pursuit of their “hobby” and their “fun” as one editor had commented in a web forum, his motive for editing.
Regarding Den Smith, DMOZ editors comment. Kudos, for telling it the way it is! I have gotten the feeling that, there is a supervising editor who spends an awful lot of his time in forums and has a cocky attitude. Without naming him, he is destroying the organization and not taking care of business, in my opinion. I would like to know if others are aware of this?
I worked over at DMOz after if first started back in 1999 or well I joined a little bit after. Granted I was young at the time and my grammer was not the best, but regardless I worked there for about 2 – 3 years and steped down to go through some college, I came back in 2005 or 2006 and re applied to find that I couldn’t, I went to the public forums and asked about doing a reinstatement which I had done, I gave all the information I could to an “ADMIN” Jimmy for short dont want to give out a name, he told me to email him with as much info as I could, such as Edits when leaving, email address, all the categories I edited in and why I left and the exact reason that I typed in for removal.
Now after 4-5 years I dont really remember my old email address or exactly how many edits I had. He told me I lied to him that I was not who I said I was and that I was trying to hack into another editors account…??? What I told him it was me that I wasnt hacking I just wanted to re instate and edit again. He then told me that he didnt make the decision but about 50 other “META” editors and editalls agreed that I should never edit again and that if I applied again “Legal actions” would be taken?? That I am sorry is very rude and well I hope DMOZ goes under!
There was never an email sent to me stating that I couldnt reapply and they would never tell me the reason for not letting me re apply, they even blocked my IP address from DMOz so now when I go to access it it pulls a blank page or if I look at the public forum it wont let me do anything.
If I would have gotten an email I wouldnt feel this way.
I hope the 2.0 is a huge dud!
Too many old people that that think they have some kind of power and they abuse it, also I know they have mentoring programs if it was just based on my editing im sure it could have been fixed by this program.
Ill be the one laughing when this project bombs haha.
Just my two cents.
That was an April Fool’s joke, right?
I truly don’t understand why Google and others place such reliance on DMOZ, which is outdated, and so hard for good new sites to get listed in.
If it worked the way it was intended to then it might be OK, but as it is it maintains those older sites in a position of prominence they no longer deserve.
If “Tom Says:
April 1st, 2010 at 6:40 am
That was an April Fool’s joke, right?”
that was directed to me then no it wasn’t an April fools joke.
When dmoz first started it was good doing what their mission statement said, but after power hungry people joined the worked their way up then changed everything, now the directory is so ful of drama and darkness, I really hope they do bomb! lol They need to see what their actions do.
I have had the experience of being a dmoz editor. For a standard editor, it’s like being back at school again, the edits you do are always checked and sometimes altered by the meta editors – this could sometimes be frustrating & insulting as I was giving up my spare time to help clear the “never ending” list of unreviewed submissions.
I am trying for last two year to get listed in Dmoz but……….
Its realy hard to get listed in Dmoz.
As I said earlier, I wouldn’t put too much importance on it now. There are plenty of high ranking sites that are not listed. Instead concentrate on getting quality back links. It will do you a lot more good.
Dmoz is still a very powerful form of linking but my category has not been updated for six months!
i submit my website on domz 2010 to related my products category
and still not listed.
Unfortunately that’s been the case for many submissions for years now. Also, it recently closed down.