No. Let me qualify that... I do not think any abuse of PR, if it exists or not, is in any way responsible for any penalization of the directories in question. I believe that there is something in Googles alogo that just does not like similarities and or a bad line of code in the phpLD db... So far, every directory that is penalized appears to be running phpLD... Find the problem as it concerns Googles alogo and phpLD and problem solved. No one is singling out directories, and I highly doubt that there is staff time being wasted at Google watching DP or any other forum, sig link, or back links to various directories. If that were the case, far more directories would see the same problem, and the problem would extend to other directory software. Note, I am not ripping on phpLD.. It is a fantastic piece of software, and probably the most popular directory software out there. I just think that there is something in Googles alogo that does not like a particular html page and or the similar db/categories that many phpLD driven directories share in common.. The thought that pimping PR is directly related to what we are seeing is just pure nonsense. If it was, you would see a total de-indexing and loss of PR, neither of which is equally the case. I think people are beating a dead horse here. Look for a solution to the problem, rather than blaming a conspiracy at Google...
what about www.zorg-links.com it is running on phplinkbid which is a completely different software ?? any explanations for that
This much we agree on but did Google/Matt Cutts not issue a warning to sites selling PR prior to the quarterly update that never happened? Would I then be wrong to say that "our" solution to the problem at that stage was to come up with the iniquitous plague of bidding directories and that it was only when Aviva and Alive got taken out in an ambush in the serp's that people started paying attention? Yes its mostly guess work but its a damned good opportunity to start looking at our system of values. Why does that concern you? Why do you see it as a threat? Should we not be continually reinventing ourselves and improving on what we offer to the market? This is where I believe it all goes wrong.
Yeah. And there are several other "penalised" phpLB sites, and some custom coded bid directories "penalised" too. This thread should die. We know nothing about the SERPs of these directories and what caused it. Threads like these cause people like rand fishkin and other large network bloggers to write bad things, causing the whole industry to suffer, which in turn causes more trolls to appear around here, and more noobs telling friends that directories are useless.
I have been paging back though this thread as well as others and whilst there have been some interesting questions raised there has been no attempt to answer them. Instead, the dissenting members are insulted, shouted down and the threads buried. Is this the way its done on this forum? If it is I agree that we need to see some changes.
Why should we leave threads that are of interest to the majority of the 'decent' directory owners die? Because it impacts people who are getting penalised? People only write bad things about bad things, they can't write bad about good. By keeping threads like this open it is keeping the subject open and this is important for one thing only, it brings to everyone's attentions the one's who are worried are usually the one's who have something to hide. We've got as much right to talk about this subject as you've got to want to close it. i'm sure it will die a death in due course but not by people telling us what to do.
I dont have anything to hide. People on the internet dont look far into things - they judge one apple by its box of apples. I have already seen people on DP saying "all paid directories are crap beacuse rand fishkin says google hates them and bans them all" etc etc. If my directory was quality, and had no SERP issues, i would be happy about being judged the same was the "penalised" sites are...
That would be true if we lived in fantasy land, often many people write about things not based on fact but percieved thoughts or at best have lttle or no supporting material to what they wrote.
Not really, the problem I see DU is that the people who don't want the truth written are very often the people that have things to hide, but I do see your point, and as sad as it is I have to agree on a lot of it.
Sorry Mikey, this one got posted as I was responding to another. Sure, people do tar all with the same brush and people like this self proclaimed expert Rand does seem to think he knows it all when clearly he's wrong on many points. DP isn't everything, we all need to know that. All paid directories aren't crap but I can give you a heck of a lot of examples of ones' that are and its primarilly ones owned by so called 'respected' members here who have already been penalized.
So could I. DP green bars speaks nothing about a paid directory's quality. Theres loads of paid directories around with empty categories, no content. They were only made to gain PR and sell links after they saw the success of earlier paid directories. If people looked beyond DP, and beyond webmasters and focused on traffic, content and uniqueness it would speak a lot more about directories as a whole.
I don't agree. People set up directories for many different reasons but one thing that they do have in common is that they are not going to attract any real users for a hell of a long time. Directories are primarily used by webmasters as a source of back links. Why not accept that? Why pretend its any different?
That is contradictory. If a directory is set up for a different reason, then how do you know what the intentions of the owner are? It could be a directory, a portal, a news site, a picture gallery, a rss feed site, and all directory based. Try thinking before posting.
Who are you asking to think Rob? To think- one needs to have a brain- a rational judgement - a dynamik mind to look beyond self. I humbly ask you to check his past posts - and you will find that he has nothing of the traits I mentioned above. What he has is a corrupt & narrow mindset, irrational judgement and uneducated thinking. No point in trying to reason with some-one who has a mind of an .........
Missed you too . Could you explain what you are trying to say. It doesn't make sense. At the same tme you could also try answering the question I asked.
Yahoo is a search engine. Why do they add content? why do they add email? why add instant messenger? they are just a search engine so why pretend they are different? Its called making all types of users happy. Not everyone wants a backlink. If a directory adds content its because people like it. They want their site to be useful to many types of people, not just webmasters. Its called diversification. Doing something different whilst still focusing on your original objective of being a directory.
Try reading comprehension 101. It's labeled clearly in bold and in fact states your contradiction AND answers your question. re-read if necessary (many times over)
Was referrring to worksh*t and apparently he doesn't have one. The saddest part of people like the_phony/pheonix, pooptalk and worksh*t is that new comers that are entering the directory niche are being seriously misguided and even dropping quite a few I.Q. points just by reading their crap posts.