At the beginning of Google's "Searchology" event in early 2007 original Google employee Craig Silverstein opined, "If Google had started a year or two earlier, it wouldn't have worked." That's because prior to that time (1998) the internet wasn't yet large enough to require Google or enable people to see the value of its approach. As sites and pages multiplied exponentially Google became an increasingly necessary tool. We're all familiar with the story. Now Google controls a majority of search traffic in most countries around the world. It has become a seemingly unstoppable force. The in [...]

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The DMOZ Blog informed us that the largest human volunteer edited web directory has turned 11 years old today. The Open Directory Project, aka DMOZ.org, launched on June 5, 1998, eleven years ago today. DMOZ boosts tens of thousands of volunteer editors and millions of websites in more than a half-million categories and content in more than 80 languages. Happy Birthday DMOZ! Yahoo, a few months ago, celebrated their 14th birthday, with the launch of their directory on March 2, 1995. [...]

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Last night a post from the DMOZ blog titled R-E-S-P-E-C-T for DMOZ caught my eye. As I read through it, I felt for the old Open Directory Project (aka dmoz.org). Let me just quote the first line: Everybody loves Google, everybody loves Wikipedia - so why doesn't everybody love DMOZ? Ouch! I mean, I kind of agree, but in some ways don't. Let's not forget, Yahoo was one of the first true web directories. Back in the day, everyone wanted to be included in Yahoo. DMOZ/ODP also was very sought after in the early days. People used web directories as search engines. As Google became mor [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Search Engines: Open Directory Project

The Open Directory just launched the official DMOZ blog. The first blog post explains that DMOZ wants to use this blog to: Provide authentic messages about DMOZ and the efforts of our volunteer community.Highlight enhancements, both current and future.Allow editors to showcase their categories and describe, in their own words, why DMOZ is so important.Recruit new editors. If you have access to the Web and are passionate about a category, find out how to apply. But most importantly, they want to use the blog to get feedback from the community. The Managing Editor, Bob Keating, said: What [...]

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DMOZ had 9 lives. Used up yet? from one of the Open Directory's founders Rich Skrenta covers how some of the ODP's data has apparently been lost due to a main server crash, with backups not having been done. There's apparently some attempt at recovery, but as Rich points out, does anyone at AOL really care? Sadly, it's felt like not for many years. As with Rich, perhaps the best way forward is to just close the project. If not, c'mon Google, acquire it and reshape it somehow. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Search Engines: Open Directory Project