With bid directories you bid to have your listing show higher. With a standard directory you dont. But you should note that both types are paid. Which one is better for what?
While not totally proven, some believe bidding directories are more risky as being defined as selling PR by Google. If there's any truth to that, it would seem that links from those directories are not as good SEO-wise; they could be useless for SEO but would not hurt your site, only your budget. Again, I doubt anyone but Google knows for sure. I think the better evaluation is how well-maintained the site is and how tightly the categories are kept on topic. Paid or bid is beside the point if the site is a mess.
I'll keep it short: There is no definite answer. The SEO capabilities of a 'regular' or bid directories is completely dependent on the script, and on the SEO knowledge of the person who manages the directory in question.
That is nothing but complete nonsense and utter speculation. There are hundreds of thousands of websites that 'sell' link space which is exactly the same a bid directory AND a regular directory with paid options are doing. Google has never publicly released a statement that it is against their guidelines or that they penalize the regarding sites for doing so. Oh and reality check: They're doing it themselves with AdSense. Does bidding on keywords light a bulb? Right.
You were not a member here when Google penalized many of the paid and bidding directories. There was much discussion as to whether or not bidding directories were more heavily targeted as PR peddlers. There is a big difference between selling ad space and selling PR. Many of the paid and bidding directories based all of their promotion on their site passing on PR rather than providing submitters an advertising opportunity and they paid a heavy price for doing so. If you are selling advertising, why do you feel the need to mention PR in your signature promoting your bidding directory? Are you selling PR or "link space"?
i believe that ymc has it there for the most part, & my impression from what i have read is that google/cutts have warned against sites promoting selling links for page rank purposes (though of course it has and will continue) - for advertising and 'promotion' that's a whole other question. many of the bid directories are now no-follow to avoid being accused and penalized for 'passing page rank'. but most of the paid directories are 'follow' and many of them have real editorial oversight and the charge is considered for their editorial services so they're not the same as an automatic pay-bid directory which accepts any/nearly any kind of site.... you might want to refer to this link about the question raised during 2007 when many sites-directories were penalized. there's also an in depth evaluation of what happened www.best-web-directories.com/directory-penalty-list.htm and possible solutions for those directories here: www.best-web-directories.com/directory-penalty-solutions.htm and www.best-web-directories.com/directories-under-review.html to somewhat answer the original question i would say that submitting to any/most of the established or higher pr paid directories should be fine as they have true editorial oversight ,or should. now who really knows the actual seo value of having a listing in a good paid directory, well i don't know, but i assume it's counted as a link of some value especially if the directory has some age to it and a decent page rank and has been around the block and does good editorial work excluding lower value sites etc
The reason why I'm doing that is to let people know that my directory is being actively promoted, hence the PR. If I was a lazy marketer like so many others out there and just put up a directory and did nothing at all with it, would you assume it ever got on the first page of Google for a highly competitive keyword, or receive any amount of beyond modest traffic to make advertising on it worthwhile? I think not. PR isn't all just about spreading link juice, it says something about the overall quality and presence of a website.
In my opinion bid directories are a blatant manipulation of google's algorithm and paid directories can still claim that they are not selling links, they are just charging a review fee ;-). Many paid directories also include sites in the directory themselves.
It says nothing but: look at me, I am totally worthless and meaningless a little green slimy looking gif image on GTB placed on it to fool idiots and to make them to believe that their sites in reality represented by my green color and not Webmasters Tool and to make them to talk about me day and night. Hey you beautiful... yes you with PR stapled to your forehead, would you like to dance with me? fastreplies
Technically and unfortunately PR can be "gamed" and from a marketing point of view, PR (at this point) doesnt really mean "much" and only dictates the frequency in which your site gonna be crawled by Google.
You have to evaluate every directory or every site that you can get a backlink.There is not a standar that bid or free directories are bad and high pr or old directories are good. So exam all your moves and dont take anything as granted!
if you look for a backlink only, there is no difference. anyway you can make your site a higher exposure on bidding web directories for front page if you place a high bid.
I hate to say this, but there really is no way bid directories are going to escape G's penalisations. As long as G is adamant about paid links being associated as PR, there really is no hope for the bid directories sector.
Let's go Even 'if' your speculation were to be true, I don't believe Google has penalizing bid directories on the #1 spot of their priorities right now. And even 'if' they did, tell me how would Capital G penalize all of them, for: A: There would be no, or untargeted random results for the term 'bid directory'. B: Authority sites in any niche do not get slapped around without reason, and it just so happens that bid directories are a perfectly white-hat legit niche. Lastly, what would make directory X more or less credible than directory Y? Selling links is selling links. It doesn't matter if you try to hide it under a cloaked and supposed to be 'free' directory. People voluntarily transfer some digits to get on the front page with their site link if they believe it's worth it, that same principle applies for both types of directories, something most of you seem to fail to understand. Can you clarify how that would differ from 'regular' directories?