Why BOTW is not penalized for selling links?

I am wondering since google put a crack down on a lot of directories which were selling links with the sole purpose to earn money, why BOTW still ranks high? i constantly get spammed by them with offers to buy their links and sending warning messages that buy the link now as we shall increase the price in coming months?

They are now charging $149 for a single link which expires after 1 year, this clearly shows their intent, which is making money. I mean, what is the purpose of rising prices every couple of months and listing sites for only 1 year? why google ain't punishing them for selling links?

 

Theres plenty of directories that are not and have not been penalised, there are also other types of sites (not directories) that wont have been penalised while others of the same type of site will have been.

Its just how it is.

Regarding price increases at any directory, you are best off asking them why, as in send a message to them, maybe they might give a good answer and can justify prices and increases.

Something is worth what you are willing to pay.

Ive found people willing to pay between $30 - $70 for the exact same thing that ive offered (not directory listing) and various amounts between those.

No hesitation by some while another will want to knock you down heavily on a price.

The good thing is theres plenty of directories to choose from, depends on your budget and your expectations.

Ive also found that the majority of people that ask about yahoo directory and whether its worth the $299 or whatever are the least likely to actually pay to submit to it or dont have the budget in the first place.

I dont know why but its one of the most repeated questions by people without the funds to actually submit to it.

 

Agreed, there a lot of directories which skipped the penalty, unfortunately i don't know any of them. The only safe directories which i know are dmoz, yahoo, botw. I have my sites listed in all of these three directories.

I had submitted my link in both yahoo and botw at about same time, to make sure my listing doesn't get disapproved i optimized my site and tweaked it to a point where no one could raise an objection.

When a year went past, i got an email from BOTW that they removed my link from their directory due to non payment (listed credit card expired) i emailed them immidiately to get back into the index which they did after i had set a working credit card, before sending this email, i rushed to yahoo to check whether they have removed my listing as well but to my surprise my listing was still hanging there and to date it is still there, its been over 2 years now.

Yahoo compared to BOTW is more trust worthy, Matt Cutts and other Google engineers have mentioned it several times on different occassions and to be honest, regardless of what people say, i believe there is value in yahoo directory link, so its totally worth it. Plus they don't keep on sending emails to inform people to add other sites because they will raise price next month.

I love both directories, its just that i am pissed at BOTW for constantly increasing prices and making it hard for average low budget webmasters to get listed. /end rant

 

There is a clear difference between a LINK and a LISTING. Links tend to be things sold for the express purpose of trying to manipulate search results, PR, etc.

Listings are generally accepted as neatly organized into relevant categories and generally contain a nofollow exit out.

Those getting penalized however, where not being penalized because they were charging for links or listings or both.

They are penalized for buying links from other places into their directories. The intent was to help again, manipulate search engine results and rank such that the directory would look more attractive and entice people to PAY to list.

Yes, several were and have been penalized as well for selling LINKS; this is true. However, it was not the same kind of penalization, which was generally limited solely to PR.

Those buying links IN were penalized with loss of PR AND INDEXING. Most, ENTIRELY!!! To the extent that you could not even goolge their domain name and find a result.

Oddly enough though, over this same period of time that Google has sought to screw with directories, their own search results have become more and more unreliable, irrelevant and out of date. Weird.

 

BOTW are not selling links - the selling a review. You an still get rejected and not get your money back - that is what Google looks for.

 

you question is equivalent to say, why all directories are not penalized?

 

Because Matt Cutts owns BOTW

 

They are not selling links, they are giving reviews.

 

BOTW.ORG never promoted - or bragged about its PR for people to submit there.

It is as simple as that.

On the other hand - some of us - directory owners tried to market/promote our directories by bragging about PR.

Lesson learnt.

 

Something found from google: http://www.seorabbit.com/yahoo-directory-botw-paid-links

 

Have you looked at their category sponsorship opportunities lately? I would not call that editing as much as I would call it selling links!

 

Not really. I tried paying for a category sponsorship for my blog once...they rejected it because they said it had non-English content

 

I had a site listed in BOTW for a few year . But I never got visitors from them (excepted maybe in the years '2005) and I never found my link from BOTW in the first SERP Pages.

Anyway, charging a fee as high as $149 just for a link renewal for another year does not represent a review charge. It is actually the price of PR selling.

Furthermore, that charge is about twice the amount of last year ($75). Such an increase has nothing to do with a rise, if any, of review costs.

Such a case is only possible "thanks to" the discriminatory way Google applies its own guidelines.

Similarly, there are a lot of sites which get high rankings despite heavy duplicate content whlile some sites with limited duplicate content disappeared from SERPs.

 

I like the above statement... "discriminatory way"... That sums it up perfectly. Can I use that? Thanks!

 

Matt Cutts addresses the difference
In the video below Matt Cutts of Google addresses the topic of paid directories vs pay-for-review directories that actually look for sites in addition to submissions and do NOT accept all submissions regardless of merit.

SEE MATT CUTTS VIDEO HERE: What types of directories are seen as sources of paid links?


Source URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Pu1YWcIh04&feature=player_embedded

 

Just what does Google know anything about ethics anyways, you all seen those Google adds?

 

I heard they (Matt Cutts) are friends friends with BOTW and probably that gives them right to stay up in SERPS and raise prices of the links they sale or reviews if you insist! But do you really think it takes a lot of time to review a site? is it such a hard job that you get to charge 150 dollars every year? Come to think of this, just because every other webdirectory is penalized, it gives them right to increase the prices and earn more money whenever they want? I feel their purpose is to make more money on webmasters expense, i have had a directory and it never took me more than few minutes to review a site and i believe paying 150 dollars for a link which expires after 1 year is totally crap and money making scheme!

 

How the hell do some directories get away with this crap?

I understand all of the posts by Matt Cutts about directories and there are a few recurring explanations.

1. Rejecting listings means you have editorial standards and that you are not selling links.

So the more you reject the better? I reject at least 90% at my directories that I charge a review fee and I don't keep peoples money when I reject them. That seems like more credible editorial standards and better ethics.

2. Not refunding peoples money when you reject websites is ok and ethical because some directories do it blatantly with no penalization.

It is harder to find good sites to accept than it is to find poor quality sites to reject. Some directories understand this, and they exploit it. Why is that ok?

Any monkey can create a website these days, especially with all the free services, software, and sites like blogspit. New webmasters are so proud that they have created a website, and they are blind to the fact that it is a poor quality website. Their eyes only open up when they have dropped $299 or $149 for nothing. These people are the primary target for non-refund directories.

3. As long as you charge way more than everyone else, $299 or $149, it means you really review sites thoroughly.

And even if you don't, who cares because you are keeping the money anyway, right?

So let me get this straight...
Charging exorbitant amounts, rejecting alot of websites, and not refunding money means you are not just "selling links" and this is how you operate a directory that will not be penalized by Google.

That's a statement, not a question, and it is one of the greatest ongoing scams the directory industry has ever had.

F*cking Sweet!



By the way, I have never submitted to any of the unpenalized, non-refund directories.

 

Fanboys have started to neg rep me "businesses try to make money? shocking" Ofcourse they do, by this claim you are implying that this directory is about making money which i agree to, whats the point in negging me?

 

I've asked before, and I'll ask again. How in the world does google know if you are rejecting listings or not? Should I be sending in a monthly rejection and approval report to google or something?

That is still the dumbest excuse I've heard to justify which directory deserves more credit than the other.