helleborine: I think you have the wrong perspective on all of this. Nobody said DMOZ was a DIRECT traffic driver. If we were looking for DIRECT traffic, then link-building, in general, would be an exercise in futility. I don't get any traffic AT ALL from 99% of the links I have built. Yet, the contribute greatly to my INDIRECT traffic which comes DIRECTLY from Search Engines. I just don't understand why you think that I would be surprised to hear that you get statistically ZERO traffic from DMOZ. Did you think I had some sort of misunderstanding about that?
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't main goal of DMOZ to serve average surfers NOT a webmasters? What you are saying is that DMOZ is nothing more then a link farm with little better PR? So my previous topic was correct, DMOZ being created for surfers is a myth!
There were 2 separate and distinct thoughts being presented, that may have coincided with one another. I'm not suggesting that DMOZ is anything, other than a directory. What webmasters choose to see it as is beyond my control.
I can see my stats and if I create category at DMOZ and replace bunch of links in wiki article with single link to DMOZ all traffic is virtually gone! So average surfers doesn't have a clue what DMOZ is, knows even less how to use it and if by some wonder does use it he quickly realize how outdate and useless most categories are. I don't like idea of being slave to Google for 90% of my traffic especially with MFA and other spammers constantly swamping results.
My friend, I couldn't agree more. And to duly note your concerns, as an editor, I wish Google would dump the use of the ODP. That's one of my biggest complaints. The more people use the ODP as an SEO tool, the more irrelevant it becomes. And whether we like it or not, the ODP does have some very positive SEO value, in the form of Google directory presence. If you followed this thread, and saw my earlier response about the ODP/G Directory link, you may also come to the conclusion that once you are in the G Directory, you won't drop out, even if your DMOZ link is lost. (at least from what I've seen) If not, I'm still waiting to see anyone offer an alternative explanation for how/why non-content sites can still enjoy top 10 SERP rankings for non-obscure terms. (other than my theory - all in title keywords from former DMOZ link, now permanent G Directory link = high ranking)