Dmoz Extortion

Damn that’s shady. They really do have about the worst editorial system in the world.

man dmoz pulled the SAME THING on me but the price was only 50$ I paid it.

DMOZ is overrated these days in my opinion. I’ve always done well without it and so have many others. Fuck the corrupt swine if they want to extort you.

Send him a mail asking for $5000 or else you’ll publish his email

Hahaha! Good idea.

Seriously though, I agree. Google needs to dump DMOZ and lets move on. And whats the deal with the pagerank?

I didn’t realise that your blog was in there - wasnt there issue with one particular editor not wanting it in there a while ago ?

DMOZ is corrupt and the data which google uses also not accurate. It is high time google must have its own directoy.

People always claim it’s near impossible to get accepted now but my site got in there and my friend has like 10 in there.

I think with people like that DMOZ will become more n more corrupt n lose it’s cult status, therefore making acceptance in there lose importance.

To be honest I never saw why it was a big deal anyway, there is no need for DMOZ.

N Shoemoney I don’t see why you need it man, traffic, value? what value does a listing have for shoemoney.com, you already have 10,000 subscribers + and people always visit. You have a great design and good posts, forget DMOZ. $5,000 HA!

Why don’t you reveal who this person was and get him dumped from the editorial team

Although the stock of DMOZ has probably dropped like 90% over the last 5 years, paid inclusion directories don’t seem like the answer to me because so many webmasters will not sign up.

I think a possible answer would be a Directory with a Social Component involved where people can either click a ’spam’ button or do a Digg-style thumbs up/down thing.

You can see the effect of this by looking at Craigslist. Five years ago they were very lenient on spam but are now cracking down. If they hadn’t done this CL would have been 75% affiliate links and webmaster spam.

DMOZ? what the heck is that?

I read somewhere that the gambling and porn sections in DMOZ are controlled by organized crime.

If you were in the DMOZ, what category would you be under? Certainly not anything related to making money online, since all you seem to post about these days is off-topic junk.

Haha yeah good idea.

I’m shocked, can’t you just make his email public to DMOZ staff or present this, I’d really like that ****** nailed!

Haha, that’s a good one!

And this is really shocking!

Yeah, I have cared less and less for the Dmoz. Shoe, post his email and get him kicked out, that is absolutely shocking to say the least.

Well this is bad news. I tried to get into Dmoz just yesterday.If they come up for some monies, I’ll just get-out of it. Thanks for the report…

The first item in the social contract of DMOZ:

[...] The Open Directory Will Remain 100% Free [...]

Why don’t you contact one of the administrators? For more information check out http://www.dmoz.org/guidelines/admin/.

What would make him think anyone would pay 5000 for a dmoz listing?

You get enough offers to add sites for $$$ to DMOZ (I’ve been offered money plenty of times) you realize that there are surely going to be lots of editors who will take it. SOme of those corrupt editors would realize that given the amount of monetary offers they get, surely some websites could be pushed into paying.

PS probably a hacked account anyway

That’s insane man! $5K for a feakin listing that would bring you like 10 visitors a month?! I’m glad I never went through the process of even putting my website listing in there.

Punks!

Share the info he gave you, paypal or whatever it was so he can be tracked down.

ummmm, get with it

Well Shoe is a gazillionaire so why not shoot for the stars if your going to make demands

Do you think Google will read this and put you back in? How many editors work on your specific section? Dont only a few people have access to each section of the DMOZ, making it easy to narrow down who it could have been?

DMOZ has been a pain to deal with for so long that it isn’t worth it any more. You’re right - Google does need to drop it. DMOZ is dead…

This is why human edited things should be edited by the masses, not by 10 people.

Shoe is secretly Bill Gates in disguise.

Same thing happened to me for one of my sites… it got toasted from DMOZ too.

I smell a blogging backlash!

Here are some ways to report Dmoz abuse.

That’s riduculous! All this hub-bub about paid links and Google is still using DMOZ! Makes me think the same guys doing the extortion are Google employees. Might as well go to the W3C supporters page where you can get a permanent PR9 link for only 1K.

Shoe,
Which category are you talking about?

I dont even bother submitting my sites there.. Anyways it is not going to get listed and I am not rich enough to pay 5K lol..

Can you tell us what caused the header defacement?

Ya, you need to nail this guy.

Report the bizoch…

http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2007/08/how-to-report-corrupt-dmoz-editors-and-odp-abuse/

Damn that guy’s got some ballz! Go get him Shoe - turn him in and expose DMOZ for the corrupt dinosaur it is! Keep us posted - please.

it’s funny in my opinion… screw them. You have your loyal fan base. Like you need the dmoz??? You should post this clown’s email address and have us flood him with spam.

That is so shady and should be blog about to get the word out how corrupt they are. I will add a post to my blog at

typing dmoz.org takes less keystrokes than “ummmm, get with it”

Last I checked, extortion was still illegal. This is the kind of thing that could take down DMOZ … and THAT’s linkbait!

nice idea! hehe

Ever heard the saying two wrongs dont make a right. You cant condemn someone for doing something bad and then spam them, that would solve nothing.

If your friends at Google aren’t ready to dump DMOZ, perhaps they *are* ready to pressure DMOZ to help get a prosecutor involved and make a high-profile case against the “editor” responsible for the problem. Go over DMOZ’s head to Google.

WoW, what a nerd. Let’s go e-thuggin’ on his a$$

DMOZ is including paid links…

Google Penalty!

It’s time to crack down this organization. I’ve tried to submit some interesting no-profit organizations and even some customer sites but i’ve never received an answer. It’s funny that it’s full of cellphones tones 1-page sites and they won’t accept an art collective.

for real i have to agree. DMOZ sucks…. But u are not the first to report of bribery within DMOZ as i saw a post somehwere guy would get u listed in dmoz for 100 bucks…

for real Nail him to the wall.

Ya, unfortunately that W3C link isn’t permanent, it’s for one year. Plus, its nofollow…

I can’t find any evidence that you were ever listed anywhere in the ODP - - and I have looked back through the last two years at archive.org and several mirrors and data-users.

Which category was it supposedly listed in then?

Shoe, I hate DMOZ editors for doing stuff like this… Could you drop me a line telling me who it was, perhaps I can help. Looking at your URL in my editors account, it has a red by Jim Noble, based on this thread.

which does make me think you asked for it but seriously: this sucks. Drop me a line and I’ll do what I can to help out.

How utterly pathetic. I wonder just how many times this works, though?

I’ve been a DMOZ editor in the past and, quite frankly, maybe had two or three actual submissions come my way. The vast majority of my edits came from tracking down political candidates on my own and getting them to give me their web address when they went live.

I’ve also had my site listed, though I can’t ever recall receiving a hit from it. So I always figured the value of a DMOZ listing was that it would get you in the search engines faster not actually bring you visitors.

I think in a lot of cases, the reasons people aren’t listed is the fact that there are so many categories without current editors that there is no one to look at it. Demanding any form of payment or editing with a vendetta, though, is definitely across the line.

Since they use volunteer “section editors,” is it possible you hit a rouge?

corrupt dmoz editor dot com is amusing if you’ve never read it

Who cares about DMOZ?

Active communities — digg, blogs, wikipedia, newspapers, all surely play a larger role in the life of common internet users than directories. Yes, they can and are gamed. The difference is there is oversight and transparency.

Dmoz should have all of their editors personal information made public along with an edit history. Without that, there is no accountability.

Directories are over-hyped, imo. Screw DMOZ for being extortionists.

Even if this is not true it is funny:

I totaly Agree. They need to discredit DMOZ and not count their pr transfer. I mean serously its empossible in most cases to get listed unless you know someone and are probaly buying your way in. Atleast yahoo and BOTW upfront tell you to pay and they have paid editors to give you a fair review.

Probably used a throwaway emails… can’t be THAT stupid right?

That’s why he didn’t pay… I can’t seem to get my site in but I’ve been doing fine without it. It’s one of those legacy things that everyone put on a pedestal that has since lost its luster and now it’s credibility.

Google should acquire BOTW. That would be a perfect directory for them.

$5,000 could buy a ton of links worth more than dmoz. They don’t pass that much PR, and they sure don’t send any business (unless a site just targets SEOs/web marketers) Smart move telling them to take a walk.

that is one crazy email.. as if anyone uses DMOZ anymore..

I agree with Neil. Best of the Web would be a good Google buy.

What a load of crap! Can they really do this? Talk about losing credibility. Piss on ‘em.

Well you are the company you keep. Here that google?

These reeks of bullshit.

1. Can you please show your original dmoz entry?

2. Why not post the email address so the great community can flush this out?

If you don’t do either of these then I’m afraid it appears that you are making this up to discredit dmoz (more so than it does itself).

Wow! I can’t believe they are so shady like that! So it really was someone connected to the sight attempting to extort you! That is pretty messed up…

Does anybody really even use that site??

– Raymond

Wow thats Bad!

DMoz Sucks! Shame on the editors…

I’ve always known that DMOZ was corrupt. How many people become a DMOZ editor just so they can turn down the sites of their competitors?

But asking you for 5k just so you can keep your listing is despicable. I wish Google would throw DMOZ in the sandbox and lock the lid.

Wow! I heard a lot about that but never thought it is so real. Google makes mistake by keeping DMOZ as autheritative source. However we all know that things won’t be changed so fast…sad truth.

I have submitted a huge number of real content sites, good stuff, and none of the got into the DMOZ directory, while in the same categories there were geocities page loaded with crap banners etc
the thing that “anybody” could become an editor was too big of an occasion for site owners to refuse their competitors submissions
I don’t give a sh*t about DMOZ listings

they should be banned…

5k for a listing at dmoz…man that is expensive

Ahh I was looking for someone who could get me in.. Can you pass on the email

Dmoz is the king of the crap.

Shit show thats a bit rough.

I also can’t believe that google still uses Dmoz! As you say, time to get a pay for inclusion directory

Directories such as DMOZ and ZEAL are editor based. Anyone can become an editor. This extortion attempt has nothing to do with DMOZ but is most likely someone who has passed the tests necessary to become an editor (I was an editor at 1 point on ZEAL but stopped doing it).

You should report the matter to DMOZ they should have logs on what editor deleted the link and they should be removed for abusing their position.

I have often wondered about the validity of DMOZ. I have tried for several years to get three of my websites accepted into the DMOZ directory. I have followed their guidelines to the letter and have done everything they suggest and no response. No response to inquiries either.

Maybe the future of search isn’t going to be with the Big Three. Could it be we will see the evolution of search move toward smaller industry and topic related directories.

What do you think?

Google does, which is the only reason why dmoz is even still mentioned anywhere.

This is the first that I’ve heard of bribery as well. I can’t say that I’m surprised though, go figure with a “human edited” free inclusion directory.

It depens on the editor. If you find a category with an active editor you have a better chance of getting in. If you not it can take months or never…

I have been in dmoz for like 2 months now, and i get not traffic from this site. I have had about 5 visitors in the last 2 months. It’s definatly not worth it to pay for this.

I think it would definatly be a good idea for shoemoney to expose this loser.

You’re crazy for paying that. DMOZ has never sent me $50 worth of traffic. Let alone the $5000 shoe was asked to pay

That’s true they should be able to check logs and see who made the mod, hopefully the keep history of what their staff does… unless this is normal for DMOZ and they just don’t care ..

I wouldn’t doubt it after reading this post.

that is unbelievable!

I definently agree with making their past edits public.

That sucks, but I can’t say it’s really all that surprising - DMOZ corruption is rampant, the directory itself is in shambles lacking proper management (Porn sites in local church directories for example - repeatedly reported)

Anyways - sorry ot hear Shoemoney.com was removed - definately ridiculous

That person may have just been waiting for yours to be removed, and then claim it was him/her who did it. However, I don’t see any reason to remove your site. I am yet to get listed out of several sites I own over the last several years. I couldn’t care less about DMOZ now.

Google, and thats about it.

Sounds like to many episode of Sopranos!…whateva…just shows where it is headed.

50k!

I knew about seo corruption but this is insane!

Let’s see that email yo

I don’t think it is a matter of needing it. It is just proof of DMOZ’s corrupt nature.

DMOZ is useless. Has been for some time. It was destroyed by the editors. Google doesnt even update its directory anymore, the results there are a year old.

Yahoo doesn’t pay for those editors. So they’d have to find a way to feed themselves.

Hi everybody, the site owner of shoemoney.com will never publish the proof that a dmoz editor tried to bribe him. It has never happened. Jus read the disclaimer before posting:

“You should assume everything written on this blog is a lie. You should assume I have motivation for linking to everything on this page and will benefit from it somehow. You should assume I am no better then you are and your opinion has just as much weight as mine. You should question everything. You should come up with your own thoughts and opinions and not trust some stupid blogger.”

By the way, do you trust this website has ever been listed at dmoz.org?

That is nuts. I cant believe it?? You are right though. Instead of Google paying all this money for services they never get to, why not look into a better option as far as a directory is concerned?

…oh yea…good job on not paying either!

I saw it listed in the affiliate category. No doubt shoemoney was in the DMOZ.

WOW, I thought it was a joke at first too. But DMOZ extorting money? I can’t believe it, it is about time to screw off with them, drop them!

Agreed, share with us. This is bull.

Lol, nice idea.

WOW! This is the first time I have heard of DMOZ editors being corrupt and extorting someone. Are we reaching the Internet’s Doomsday? Or are we already there!

That’s why one of my authority sites never got into DMOZ. I also received a similar email from a DMOZ editor who’s asked for cash to include my authority site into DMOZ.

I said go scre** yourself, and he sent me an email saying: “Forget DMOZ Forever”.

Who cares about DMOZ other than Google?

thats crazy! I cant believe they would try to do something like that!

See the edit… pwned!

You just got served!

Has anyone actually had any sites accepted into Dmoz in like the last year? I thought it had died.

I couldn’t agree more. BOTW has all the values and ethics that DMOZ proclaims to have.

Jeremy, you might be interested in this explanation:

http://blogoscoped.com/forum/106601.html#id106669

Wow, this stinks. I guess it’s something I’ve never worried about with DMOZ.

I just did a couple months ago, but it took forever. I forgot about it by the time I got accepted

Is it time for a better Dmoz like directory? Would webmasters pay to be included in a more relevant directory? I know I would.

From the Dmoz Social Contract

Liars.

From the Dmoz Social Contract:

1. The Open Directory Will Remain 100% Free

Liars.

I heard someone say to someone at SES San Jose that they could “make a Wikipedia page say anything for $60,000″

Sounds kinda like this except in reverse…

wow….

I hear the ODP bans any site that ever offers *them* a bribe to list a site. There are records in forums that suggest you tried to pay to get the site listed. If that is the case, then it would never be listed.

I agree it wouldn’t be a bad move at all.

*LOL* and you can really get a Free 50″ plasma TV for free…….

Nothing you can do when there are rogue elements… just kind of strange that they’d come back after the fact and say “ha ha!” Makes you wonder how important it must be if you ddin’t notice in the first place.

Go report this incident with the following link!
http://report-abuse.dmoz.org/?cat=Computers/Internet/Web_Design_and_Development/Authoring

Now theres an IDEA!

–Melanie

So you’ve bribed dmoz editor before? No wonder you got that email (even if it’s unrelated to shoemoney)

People have been talking about this kind of thing for the last 5 years. I am glad someone with your popularity, wrote about it. Maybe now, someone will do something about it.

As an actual DMOZ editor, this is bull crap. I became an editor a couple years ago and I’ve seen first hand that it’s corrupt and most editors don’t seem to care too much about it . Except to help out friends/themselves and abuse their power considering it is so significant in google.

The whole process of becoming an editor is so difficult and time consuming and considering the horrible maintenance and state of DMOZ you’d think they’d be a little more open for help. Even once becoming an editor, trying to get approved for another category is really retarded.

I have to agree with some previous comments. Not that I am glad this happened to Shoe Money, but I am glad that you have the clout to broadcast out about the corruption that now seems to define the DMOZ.

Well, according to that, the site’s only listing was deleted in April. If Jeremy says he only got the email telling him it was removed on August 26, that should tell you something. If it was an editor who was trying to scam you, then why not turn them in by posting their details here or reporting them?

If this is really true, please report it.
I don’t think much of their directory or system either (I was in it last time I checked - http://www.iShopSouthwest.com), but you should give it a chance to work.

Please report this person and see if their system works.

Further proof of Dmoz corrupt nature, and to think Dmoz editors are still today trying to defend the thing. Only a matter of time before it’s wound up.

DMOZ is corrupt. It is the exact opposite of transparency and openness.

My friend, a well-respected professional in his field, was an editor at DMOZ for over *8* years, nearly from the start. One day he went to login and found his account locked out. (He logged in weekly or every other week.) He had something like 4,000 adds, 3,000 deletes, and over 9,000 edits to his account. He’s as ethical an individual I’ve ever met.

Seems as though one of the disputes about a where a website should be included got someone higher-up upset. And they just decided unilaterally to remove him as an editor. No warning, no system in place to defend oneself, just a unilateral decision that his efforts were no longer needed.

When asked for information, details, anything that might help him understand what had happened, he was met with stony silence. He got one form reply saying his account was permanently locked out and he shouldn’t bother trying to re-apply.

There’s nobody to complain to. Nobody cares. This was over 2 years ago, he’s moved on, but I’ll never forget how upset he was that nobody treated him like a simple human being and talked to him about whatever the problem was before they decided to close his account.

So yeah, seeing this happen is not surprising. DMOZ must be run by the inmates these days.