DMOZ has officially closed after nearly 19 years of humans trying to organize the web
The closure marks the final end of a chapter of humans trying to organize the web.
Topic: Web directory
RIP DMOZ: The Open Directory Project is closing
As of March 14, DMOZ will no longer be available.
The Yahoo Directory Is Finally Absolutely Dead
The Yahoo Directory now redirects to Aabaco.
Yahoo Directory Closes, Five Days Early
The core service that launched Yahoo as an internet company -- the Yahoo Directory -- finally closes 20 years after it began.
The Yahoo Directory — Once The Internet’s Most Important Search Engine — Is To Close
For some, it may seem like there has always been Google, and it’s always been the main way people have found things on the web. But before Google, there was the Yahoo Directory and its hand-compiled list of websites, organized into topics. Now, the venerable Yahoo Directory is closing. Yahoo shared the news today, a […]
Experts Weigh In On Google’s “Pigeon” Update Aimed At Improving Local Search Results
Last week, Google made new search waves when it rolled out updates to its local search algorithm. The “Pigeon” update (the name Search Engine Land gave it in absence of an official name from Google) aims to deliver improved local search results, with enhanced distance and location ranking parameters. According to Google, the new local […]
Google’s Pigeon Update Solves Yelp Problem, Boosts Local Directories
As the analysis continues on yesterday’s Google local search algorithm changes — that we’re calling the Pigeon update — one thing appears to be clear: Local directory sites are getting better visibility in Google’s search results. More specifically, it looks like Google has fixed its “Yelp problem” and is now showing Yelp pages at the […]
Here’s A New Twist: Directories Now Charging NOT To Link
For the past year, Google has been sending out link penalty notifications for unnatural links pointing to your web site. Those notifications kicked up a notch earlier this year and since then – especially with the Penguin update, webmasters and SEOs have been obsessed with link removals. Link Removal Fees: With this, there are many […]
Did Google Drop 100+ Small Directories?
Yesterday I covered a WebmasterWorld thread where SEOs were complaining that Google has been removing tons of free web directories from their index. I conducted some random tests and did notice some of these free web directories not coming up in Google. Later in the day, Terry Van Horne began running larger tests on 500+ […]
Bing Launches “Editors’ Picks”
Bing has launched a new section named Editors’ Picks. Bing Editor’s Picks is a collection of web pages grouped into topics, much like a web directory. Yes, Bing Editor’s picks is basically a limited version of the Yahoo Directory or Open Directory Project. They let you browse the categories and view sites that Bing editors […]
Linking Oddities That Ripley Would Like
Ahhh, the strangeness that is links. This week’s column will hopefully spark some questions, answer a few others, and also point out some weird linking related phenomena, beginning with two examples: If this search is correct, Google indexes a little over (Use Dr. Evil voice) 1 billion pages from the Yahoo.com family of domains. But, […]
A Link Building Blueprint: Utility Linking
Almost every SEO I know spent the better part of last week discussing recent changes Google made to its ranking algorithm. This update hit some webmasters hard while others went unscathed, and results still seem to be settling out. Nothing I’m working on was impacted (knock wood) probably because I tend to use a wide […]
A Link Building Blueprint: The Foundation
Over the next several months, I plan to use my column here at Link Week to lay out a link building blueprint you can use as a guide in your linking efforts. We’ll start with foundational tactics and some of the side opportunities they offer, and keep going into the more detailed “advanced” techniques toward the end. If you […]
Google Drops Google Directory Search Option
The Google Directory seems to have dropped the option to search within the directory. If you visit the Google Directory the only search box you will see is a “Google search” box. A week or two ago it was a “Search Directory” button, but that is now gone. Google is even missing the search within […]
Dex One To Shutter Business.com
Here’s another hit on the availability of directories as link building tools: Dex One has announced plans to shut down Business.com, a national directory of business listings, and fold it into its Dex One business, which includes the DexKnows.com online yellow pages site. Business.com was ostensibly a B-to-B directory, but had often been referenced as […]
Yahoo UK & Ireland Directory Closing November 8, 2010
The Yahoo UK and Ireland directory will be closing November 8, 2010. Yahoo officially posted the details on in their help section. Yahoo closed four European directories earlier this year including France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Yahoo however told us that the US directory is safe and will not be going away. As many of […]
Once The Most Powerful Person In Search, Srinija Srinivasan Leaves Yahoo
Back in the mid-to-late 1990s, the most powerful person in search was arguably Yahoo’s Srinija Srinivasan. If Yahoo’s was the “gateway” to the web in the way some think Google is today, Srinivasan was the chief gatekeeper. And now after 15 years, she’s leaving Yahoo. Srinivasan was Yahoo’s “Ontological Yahoo,” among other titles including being […]
Yahoo Closes European Directories, Says US Directory Is Safe
Yahoo has closed its web directories in four countries, and it seems no one noticed. It happened back in December, and Yahoo is now redirecting those directories to the country-specific web search pages. Sean Carlos dropped us a note about his blog post today on Antezeta.com, and we got this confirmation from Yahoo: As part […]
DMOZ: A Solid Directory Or The Great Pumpkin Of Search?
Love it or hate it, the Open Directory Project (ODP or “DMOZ”) always seems to creep into the conversation when we’re discussing links and/or SEO. Check any forum, social news or answer site and you’ll see a wide variety of opinions on the 11 year old directory and how it’s managed. When talking about the […]
6 Discovery Methods For Finding Ideal Linking Partners
One of my link builders recently had the brilliant idea of putting together and sending out a questionnaire designed to gather information how the other link builders in our agency perform their daily link building tasks. We’ve always worked on the assumption that each link builder will naturally be drawn to using certain specific tools […]
Why You Can’t Dismiss All Directory Links
If you follow me here or on the Link Spiel, you know I am a loyal fan and staunch supporter of using directories to secure links. After reading last week’s Elephant in the Link Building Living Room, I wanted to present a different point-of-view as I don’t feel the directory industry or the link builders using […]
Revisionist History: Bartz Claims Yahoo Was Never A Search Engine
The New York Times has an interview out with Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz where she declares that Yahoo has “never been a search company.” Astounding, in that that this is not true. Part of me thinks, “Why bother arguing?” As my A Search Eulogy For Yahoo post from last week explains, whatever Yahoo was, if […]
DMOZ (Open Directory Project) Turns 11 Years Old Today
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 […]
Don’t Forget About Us, The Web Directories
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 […]
Cool New Link Tools And… SEO Discounts!
I’ve come across some cool tools to use in your link building efforts and have a handful of discounts I wanted to share so let’s get right to it! Groundswell profile tool All link building tactics have one thing in common—they need relevant pages to secure the links from. Notice I didn’t say “authority pages” […]
A Link Building Stimulus Plan
With the economy the way it is, we’re getting a lot of inquires from people asking for package programs. They’re willing to cut back on the number of link building techniques they contract for, but not the quality of the links secured. Because of the volume of requests we were getting, I decided to look for a way to trim a couple […]
7 Search Tools You May Not Know … But Should
Google UK recently shared a list of 52 Things to Do on a variety of Google properties (found via Phil Bradley). It’s a collection of tools and tips about using Google products and services for some everyday functions. If you’re a search power user, you probably know most of them already. But Google’s message seems […]
Google Removes Directory Links From Webmaster Guidelines
Brian Ussery reported that Google has dropped two important bullet points from the Google Webmaster Guidelines. Those bullet points include: Have other relevant sites link to yours. Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.
Goodbye, Yahoo Picks
Children, gather ’round. When I was a boy, we didn’t have Digg. We didn’t have Slashdot. When we wanted a big traffic rush, we had to walk eight miles in the snow to Yahoo Picks — Yahoo Picks Of The Week & Picks Of The Day — and we liked it. But now, Yahoo Picks […]
Fall Cornucopia Of Linking News
Here we go again… The Associated Press (AP) is suing news aggregation site Moreover and parent company VeriSign, claiming copyright infringement for, among other things, linking to the AP news without permission (here’s the complaint in PDF format). In an awesome bit of newsbot irony, you can read all the gory details via Reuters.
Open Directory Launches The Official DMOZ Blog
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 […]
The Great Google Directory Ban Of Sept. 2007
Earlier this month, a discussion on our Sphinn site looked at how it seemed Google was going after directories with penalties. But was this really happening, or was it just forum noise coming out in particular from Digital Point? Today, Rand Fishkin takes a long look in the issue in What Makes a Good Web […]
Google Calendar Launches Public Calendar Directory
Philipp Lenssen reports that Google Calendar has added a gallery of public calendars that users can subscribe to. The directory is cataloged by Top Picks, TV shows, Events, Sports, Entertainment, Miscellaneous, Holidays and By Google. Wouldn’t it be nice if the By Google category showed scheduled Google Search updates?
Foundational Links Don’t Split, Crack Or Get Dugg Up
A lot of business owners I work with understand they need inbound links but aren’t sure how to get started or prioritize their efforts. I suggest they begin by establishing a base of links from authority sites that work toward building their business reputations. I refer to these as foundational links and believe they are […]
ODP Founder Skrenta On Dying Open Directory
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 […]