Is DMOZ really important ?

That's correct. AR isn't as well known as PR or TR but it is used a significant (negative) factor in weighting the importance and relevance of a site. DMOZ was selected as one of the test pilot sources for AR, known as Archaic Rank Seed Entities, or ARSE.

 

Well I think that a link from Dmoz is really important atleast important to me.

 

That doesn't make any sense. Still, selling links in your DP signature for $30 a month is an interesting insight into your personality.

 

brizzie, I agree it is just a link, if I can join in this important topic.

But there are a multitude of considerations before one can determine a links worth from DMOZ.

I'm pretty sure that some of the flux and shifting, in google's index for instance, is entirely due to links within the directory.

This may sound crazy, but if an editor applies a new link to the page your link is on, depending on google's ranking methods as an example, a certain shift will happen. In a niche where a single point may make the difference between top rank or oblivion, dilution of link value has to be considered if it is from DMOZ. We all know that pagerank did indeed work on this calculation. That is why pagerank was just a hype, it was never a democratic structure of the web.

Remove DMOZ, and google's index will shift like a tectonic plate.

 

PageRank Information

 

IF the index does move at all, Google will downgrade some creaky cobwebbed sites, and some better, fresher sites might move towards the top.

"IF"

 

I would argue that the importance of a DMOZ link is greater than ever. With so much rubbish out there, wouldn't links from authority sites be even more valuable?

As the web grows exponentially, the jobs of the spiders will become more and more difficult. Making it easy for them to find you within the "Central Core" of the web's topography would be in your best interest. Having links from multiple sites within this area of the network almost assures you frequent crawls.

It also serves as an additional endorsement of the quality and relevancy of your site. The editorial review, yada yada yada. You know the spiel.

 

Yes indeed, correct. The result of google shifting only a few inches like a tectonic plate is called "liquefaction".

Bad sites go under, and fresh new content, risen from obscurity, sees the light of day. Rather like a Phoenix rising from the ashes. As the quake settles and closes, bad sites are crushed and consumed. Google is a hungry beast.

 

1. DMOZ is hopelessly out of date and grows increasingly so with every passing day. That makes it increasingly less "authoritative".

2. I have yet to see any evidence whatsoever that a link from DMOZ is given any more weight than a link from you or me.

 

Circumstantial evidence (SERPs).

1. 2-3 years ago, DMOZ categories regularly used to float to the top of the SERPs. Now, they are frequently buried very deep, under some rather unsavory sites. The Google link to the ODP has been relegated to the shed. DMOZ pages are link farms, and devoid of content.

2. Conversely, Wikipedia pages have experienced a meteoric rise in SERP prominence. Wikipedia pages are content-rich.

More circumstantial evidence

3. There are two things that the ODP despises and fears more than an Ebola outbreak. (1) Webmasters and (2) worse still, the scum that applies to become editors. How dare they? And if a scumbag new editor makes it through the cracks, this new editor will be disciplined harshly, rudely and condescendingly over commas and newbie errors. Not surprinsingly, there aren't many editors. One mistake, and you're out. No trial, no explanation.

4. Wikipedia welcomes anyone. A competitor of mine caught spamming the Wiki was warned, temporarily, blocked, and beaten into making a token submission by a swarm of wikipedians on high alert. For spamming the Wiki, he was blocked for mere hours. And guess what? He gave up on his own, eventually. There are a lot of editors at the Wiki, ordinary people and passers-by. It is vibrant and alive, not greying, moribund and shrivelling up.

 

Yep, just yesterday I've check for the first time:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_banned_users

Maybe Jimbo should buy DMOZ and sort it out?

 

They must have walked with a swinging firy tail, and smelled of sulfur, devils incarnate. It takes a lot to be permanently banned.