Is it possible to buy DMOZ?

Maybe I'm crazy but is it at all possible for someone with enough money to buy out DMOZ from Netscape? What do you think...

 

I think with enough money you could, at the worst you could go for a hostile takeover. Personalloy if I had that kind of money I'd buy hodgeup and have him drive my kids to school every day.

 

The problem is: what are you going to buy?
The servers?
The database? (it is already free for you to get)
The software?
Neither of these will buy you DMOZ if you can't get the editors to follow you.
The new owner must keep the idea behind DMOZ alive. If not most editors will leave, and has been discussed already internaly, will start their own directory based on the free DMOZ database.

 

All good points but I think you'd be buying CEO rights. Basically what you want you want to do with DMOZ, you will do. People are willing to pay $299 for Yahoo Directory - I imagine a price for DMOZ inclusion can be even higher. If I owned DMOZ I'd make it paid listings, have my editors paid for their work, and get rid of all the corruption that is going on. People shouldn't have to wait that long to get listed. Of course that doesn't mean any site that pays can get it, there will still be a strict review process, but the editors will be paid to review sites within 48 hours, not 2+ years

 

In that case you will have a big problem. Almost none of the current editors will stay. The "free" aspects of DMOZ are essential for us.

 

The perceived value of DMOZ is the direct result of the free, unbiased and objective site reviews. The project’s philosophy imparts impartiality that is valued by DMOZ users in this SEO world of SERP’s. Making it a paid service, whether the listing is guaranteed or not, will certainly evaporate this perception.

 

Why anyone would want to pay more than Yahoo's [overpriced] rate, to get into any directory escapes me.

But it would seem that many percieve the value of an ODP listing to be worth paying.

Assuming that someone purchased ODP and decided to ignore the rules about charging, and that most of the current editors than quit, then the new owners would have to hire and train a new batch of editors.

They probably would also have to totally rewrite the directory software.

At then end of that, they would have a nice little business charging for listings. They would then start to bill those already listed to keep their listing intact.

Most site owners would refuse to pay, and listings would start to be removed.

Within a short while, Google would stop using ODP as a trusted source.

The value of an ODP listing at that point would be worth zero, and no-one would pay anymore.

With the income dropping, the new owners would start to fire editors, and wihin a few months would give up, and drop the directory entirely.

 

There's the answer for people like I, Brian, where requests to have the listing removed from DMOZ were denied.

Good idea.

This is looking better and better...

There goes the editors' side business...

This gets better all the time...

I'm sold! Where do I sign up?

 

ODP isn't supposed to be a professional directory, it's a hobby. Why would anyone want to take away my hobby?

 

Don't worry, Annie - we'd set up a special directory for you - maybe call it "AMOZ" or something

 

I would buy it and then shut it down and put a parked domain page on it.

 

"Pave Paradise... put up a parking lot..." ~ Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi

 

A lot of people would. There is even a thread here someone giving a $1000 reward for getting their site listed

I don't see that. Why would someone leave if they are getting paid to do the same work they are doing for free? Heh, and I thought I was from a communist country

Modify a bit

Good point here. I'm sure though that everyone who is in DMOZ is well aware of the benefits and would pay to stay there.

For every person that will drop out of DMOZ because they don't want to pay, there will be three people to take his place. Assuming that there are still a lot of quality sites that are not in DMOZ as of right now, the directory would explode and I don't see Google dropping it from that.

 

We'd quit because it would stop being a hobby and become a job. I don't want to be told I have to work in a certain part of the directory, I want editing to be enjoyable.

True story. Last week someone showed me a site about lawn mower racing. I'd never even heard of lawn mower racing but had a very enjoyable evening with my husband looking at sites about the topic, and in the meantime, cleaned up the category and reviewed all the suggestions that were waiting.

Could I have done that if editing for dmoz was a job rather than a hobby?

 

and if DMOZ charged for a listing how many of the sites in that catgeory would have paid for a listing? DMOZ would become a useless resource if it charged for listings - most good sites would never be suggested.

 

For the record: to the person who commented on the above post, saying

I think you missed the smiley there. I may have some "mean" things to say about certain DMOZ editors but I respect Annie and I don't attack and wasn't attacking her.

It's called "humor".

 

If ODP was turned into a paid directory, it will soon become just that, with all implications. Instead of directory of best sites (yeah, that's what DMOZ tries to be, let's not discuss the current state), it will become a directory of sites that can afford to pay.

Google dislikes paid links and why would a webmaster want to pay for a link that Google is likely to ignore anyway? Only a badly informed webmaster would do that. There would be a short term profit for the owner, but that is all.

The current editors would most likely abandon ODP and continue editing in another directory based on the current ODP principles, let's call it ODP2. Soon this project will attract the attention of search engines and we would be in the same position as we are today. (only some of us would have more money and some of us less )

You cannot completly destroy a principle just with money.

 

You think they would take a check?

 

if you had paid dmoz listings dmoz would not be dmoz nor would it carry any weight with google which is probably the real reason anyone would want it sinze dmoz itself doesn't seem to generate much traffic