Directory owners, please be responsible!

I am posting this "grudge" publicly to help improve the relationships between directory owners and directory submitters. So, please don't jump down my throat if you don't like my message for some reason. I'm just trying to help.

I have submitted to hundreds of paid directories, spending many thousands of dollars. I have also paid for a very nice program that tracks all of my backlinks from these paid directories. I do a "compliance scan" once or twice per month to make sure all of my links are still online. There are always at least 10 directories that have dropped my link for various reasons, some more understandable than others. I take the time to contact each directory owner to find out why my link is gone. Usually, my "missing link" is the result of an innocent mistake, but it still takes valuable time to address. Whatever--I accept it and deal with it.

What I don't accept, however, is when a directory owner sells his/her directory or decides to change the directory structure (altering URLs and/or moving listings) without notifying all of the paid submitters beforehand.

If a directory owner decides to sell a particular directory, fine, but I believe that the owner has the obligation to contact all of his/her customers beforehand. The owner should also tell the customers whether or not the new owner plans to delete or move links. If the new owner does plan to move or delete links, either the original owner or the new owner should be fully prepared to issue refunds.

If a directory owner wants to change the structure of a particular directory, that is fine. Without a doubt, however, the owner has the obligation and business responsibility to contact all of his/her paying customers beforehand. The owner should have the decency to inform each customer of the new location of his/her paid link. It's not right that customers have to waste their time policing directory owners to whom they have paid money for listings, simply because the directory owners do not want to invest the time or money that it takes to set-up a mailing list.

Directory owners definitely need to address this very frustrating and time-consuming problem.

 

Good post with many good points of view

 

Bravo Educationlinks!!! Well said! I'm also seeing directory owners putting nofollows and making the once SE friendly links disappear. I'm using the product on my sig to track my links, works like a charm!!!

 

you give a good feedback to the owner of directory, i know most directory not realy organized, they like to change often, but they forget their paid customer, it is not good idea

 

well said...IMO, deleting paid links is not forgivable..

 

EducationLinks, Nice thread.Post which directory Dropped your link, so, webmaster can take care.

 

Great thread and you are right with all the points.

I know you had some issues with me regarding my web directory after it was sold. I am sorry for that though, i refunded you i guess. The new owners were iEntry Inc, they didnt respond to my emails for so long. I still accept my mistake and responsibility. It wont happen in future.

 

Thank you for the feedback, everyone.

I finally posted about this persistent problem because it has happened to me literally 200-300 times over the last few years. I finally reached my boiling point today, when a new batch of 22 out of 400+ directories had dropped my paid links since August 15. (I have contacted all of the owners, so hopefully all links will be returned or refunded.)

I can't be alone in this endless game of "find the link," so it surely is not helping the somewhat fragile reputation of the directory industry.

 

Nice post. Good suggestions.

 

Maintaining Directory is hard task. I respect for both submitters and Owners..

 

Good points raised, and what makes it more shameful is how easy it is for directory owners to actually do what you ask, there can be no excuses really, with the exception of perhaps death

 

well said...IMO, deleting paid links is not done.
when the the tos is followed and the link accepted.

 

Just to clarify an imporatant point. What are you paying for, a listing or a review? I think you are making unreasonable demands unless you are buying your links for traffic purposes where the link uses a "no follow" tag.

 

Nice Post. Every Point Is Helpful For US.

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Thanks EducationLinks, i definately agree with what your saying.

LaCabra, thanks for the product suggestion in your sig.

 

Very nice points, I think all of us who have directory should take this points on board.

 

How can they even do that. Its very bad.

 

Yes i've had a few of my submissions go missing in action. I think what some directory owners may be doing is removing the free submissions once they have a nice base of paid submissions. What I have also run across is some directory owners are starting to add no-follows, javascript or linkredirects after the fact. I have run across one individual who was cloaking the page I was listed on, showing one version for crawlers another for visitors.

I would recommend that people start really keeping an eye on their link and maybe use the product that Educationlinks uses or Link Snitch.

 

this is why I have only permanent listings in my directory .It is not feesible to chase down people once a year or remove links if you have hundreds.I know the owners who charge yearly fees will not agree with my reasonings .And i know what you mean about urls changng , i got a new version and update put on my older directory that already had inside pr pages and the new script changed all of them.Sometimes the change in urls are out of our control but i am sure ot a regular occurance.

 

Sorry, but I doubt you'll see most directories agreeing to allowing submitters to dictate how a directory is operated.

While I agree that deleting listings for which any type of fee was paid may not proper, there is no obligation to anyone if and when I edit listings or restructure (sub-categorize or otherwise) to increase the functionality of my directory.

Expecting that a listing will remain as placed by an editor when accepted may lead to disappointment.