I was wondering. The directory is entirely free. They don't pay anything to the editors. But still maintaining their position on the internet costs money & how do they make it. In their social contract I remember reading something like the "requirements of our data users (rdf) will be a big priority to us". I was wondering if they accept compensation from companies which download their data. I mean its all pretty and good u know, free directory, free editing, etc, etc. But it costs money to Netscape & AOL Time Warner.
Business model: (1) Remain stuck in 1999, in perpetuity. (2) Offer no functionality beyond that of a straight link farm. (3) Out of desperation, systematically spam Wikipedia external links sections with DMOZ links to scavenge visitors. (4) My personal experience: average wait for a listing is in excess of 14 months. (5) Include websites that promote pedophilia. (6) Close eyes on self-serving editors in Adult section. (7) Promote the paranoid. (8) Foster suspicion and hostility towards the few new editors that get approved. (9) Behave as if the links and associated description had any importance, when in fact both are virtually worthless. (10) Shrink while the internet grows. (11) From AOL's point of view, the "business model" as it stands does not warrant "throwing good money after bad" so that AOL does not bother with backups, or prompt outage repairs, etc. (12) The Directory is in such a hopelessly miserable state, with no hope for even the slightest improvement, that Google has not updated its version of the ODP in a couple of years. (13) The model of listing web sites is passé. People want web pages and keywords within these pages, and that's what Google gives them. (14) Most editors aren't keen enough to realize they are wasting their lives on one of the largest black holes of the internet.