| The Open Directory Endures a Lingering Death |
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| Thursday, 30 November 2006 | |
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Love it or hate it, DMOZ.org has loomed large of webmasters heads for years now, but it seems likely thats its days are numbered.
By clicking here you can read our article from early this year about the history of the DMOZ and its importance, but technical problems are threatening to render years of credibiliy obsolete in just a month. No new submissions are being accepted and editors can't login. In fact, they are not even being told what the problems are. A group are publicly venting on this forum thread.
For a centerpiece of the web, DMOZ always seemed arcane and territorial with sites submitted to it system appearing, or not, anywhere from days to years in thh future. That has been a core problem and one that has helped to erode its influence, particularly with allegations of bribery for listings.
However, no major website can be out of service for a month and expect to retain its credibility. AOL is not a particularly healthy company and we have to wonder whether they want to spend time and money fixing it.
Some of you will cheer and celebrate over DMOZ's coffin. Some will wonder whether the project was doomed from the start. Some think it died months or years. The end result is that SEO is more in your hands and less in those of a faceless editor. That can't be a bad thing. (I must declare a interest: I am (was?) an editor for DMOZ.) Set as favorite Bookmark
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