I was not aware of that group, I did however think that competing unions would spring up. Agreed, but we can try and prevent this. I vow right here, that corrupt members will be removed. If there is any question in the future of the group, refer to this thread so that all may know my stance on the matter. It will not be a fixed dollar amount, but obviously somespamdirectory.com chargin $50 for a regular link is unreasonable. The commitee will review each directory adn make the decision on an individual directory level, that said, it will be unbiased and consistent. Actually I was hoping you would consider joining the commitee. I am not sure if I understand 100%, but I'll give it a shot of answering your question. IWDAA will not be goverment controlled, this group is made as a tool for web users to increase their awareness of directories and so that they can use a directory to find information, and be assured of it's quality. So there will not eb any countries endorising it, as it is for all web users. I hope he may take notice, and maybe I will be able to talk to him at a conference or something.
If you and the other association members are able to uphold integrity, I think it can work. Good luck!
That would be a positive thing. I admire you for trying to get an even keel on the industry - hope it works out - sounds good to me
I don't think it will need any accreditation to separe the real good directories from the rest. The next step would be to create an internet guerilla army to fight against google
It is easy for webmasters to tell, but again as I have said before this group is aimed at the average web visitor and in bringing traffic to directories, and to increase the standards level across all directories.
Public site with a private backend for the commitee discussion and decisions. The site will include news, information on directories and the IWDAA for visitors, listings of accredited directories, and a certificate repository to validate accredited sites.
Could I get my Linkspub in there. It's not really a web directory & more of a business directory and was wondering if it is eligible. Where do I submit it to be considered.
Right now, we are working on building the comittee and setting up ideas, so we can't review sites at this moment. However all directories that are on the web will be eligible for review. This include niche, general, and even bid directories. However I must note that there will be a strict review on bid directories to ensure they provide quality listings and are beneficial for visitors. Thank you for being interested in the project, I will let you know when we are able to review submissions.
i am still waiting to see the homepage of this organization and see how much quality that provides to the visitors.
I thought you said "only quality direectories"? "Quality bid directory" is an oxymoron. "Bid directory beneficial for visitors" is an oxymoron.
I think this is a great idea and could really work out provided that you can get some respectable members on the team. One of the main guidelines that could aviod any kind of corruption on the directories which get approved would be to have a vote by all members on each directory saying either yes or not to the approval of the directory. Each member's vote would not visiable to the other members, this would hopefully help avoid members gaining any unwanted threats by those who felt their directory should have been added. A few other guidelines I would inforce would be: Directory would need to be at least 2 years old, not just the domain name. (Could use wayback machine to verify that the directory has in fact been a directory for the last 2 years). Directory can not have any empty category. (working on this right now with my own directory). Directory must be 100% seo friendly with seo friendly urls. Directory must also have solid a title tag (not one just for seo) for all categories in the directory. Directory must have a well written description for all categories in the directory. Directory needs to have a custom design and can not just be a directory created from a free template. I think a seal of approval would be great instead using some form of point scale, this will help avoid any so-called favortism that one directory might receive over another. Those are just my thoughts. Would love to see if some thing like this really get underway.
Thanks for the invite but there are more qualified people than me that are worthy. I can pump in ideas but that's all. It's better for me to watch in the sidelines and BS if there are wolves trying to be sneaky and corrupt. But overall it would be a nice idea.
Isn't it a little bit dictatorial/elitist to set guidelines? And would this seal of approval "justify" an increase in submission fees? I think if you're going to give guidelines, just don't make it so hard to satisfy. And what about Google changes? Will you dance along with Google? And what benefit would it give to "new" directories? You shouldn't monopolize the directory business and leave non-members lying on the ground. You should make this group with the thought that you might be stepping on other people..
I also agree that your intentions are good but the above early guidelines are very vague and it will be very, very difficult to draw the various lines in the sand, so-to-speak. Another problem is if the group that makes up the committee are directory owners, they might have a vested interest to not allow in certain members and it will just turn into a little gang. Anyways I will watch this closely and offer what suggestions I can. I have a feeling that a true organization like this needs to be built around a new search engine, that way if 100's of directories join we can pool our resources into offering search results.
You know my stance on bid directories from other posts, but I refuse to discriminate as that would defeat the purpose of the organization. I am always looking to be proved wrong, so maybe there are a few quality bid directories. But I honestly have no experience with them, as I have never used or submitted to one. Thanks for the ideas, yes all accreditation reviews will be voted on by all members and must be won by a clear margin. There is a possible problem with making directories at least 2 years old. Yes this will be beneficial in many cases, but in some cases a fairly new directory can provide substantial information. The only other thing is regarding forcing SEO friendly URLs, one of the focuses of the group is to make directories useful for humans, and humans don't care if it is SE friendly or not. Google can do whatever they want, we will try and work with them, but if they don't cooperate, then that's their choice. If someone takes advantage of the accreditation, they will undergo a review by the committee, raising submission fees without due cause is certainly enough to re-review a membership. Google can do whatever they want, we will try and work with them, but if they don't cooperate, then that's their choice. About new directories, as stated earlier we won't discriminate based on age of directory, although age will probably play a small factor in the review process. If non-members are losing traffic, they may try and join the organization, but their site must be useful. If a site isn't useful, we aren't afraid of them disliking us. We will take every step to prevent this from becoming a fight or warring clans, so voting will be anonymous. And we will try to have board members from varying backgrounds to ensure fair treatment for everyone.
Hey can i be on the review board, i been doing some directory reviews for quite some time now, will not let you down, plus i am known to be honest when it comes to reviews
these ideas have popped up by many before but no one took the authority to actually do something rather than talking. Any minimum time requirement when you will have this set it up by or will this thread will just be another talk not walk have you registered the domain yet ??