I remember with fondness the OPD (Open Directory Project) from the early days of the internet. At one stage the ODP was the number one go to place to find new and interesting web sites. Manually created and curated one could say that it was the forerunner of other high manual contribution sites like Wikipedia.
The ‘koel deur die kerk’ moment for ODP was the day that they agreed to allow Google (then a fledgling search engine) to scrape and use their data to provide seed sites and results for people searching for things on the internet. For many years Google carried a ‘Powered by ODP’ pay line.
Google began using data from the Open Directory Project (ODP), also known as DMOZ, in 1999 and continued to do so until July 2011.
Did Google Pay ODP?
The relationship between ODP and Google was characterized by the following:
Google utilized DMOZ’s manually curated titles and descriptions as a source for search result snippets. Google would pull this information when its systems determined that the DMOZ description was more relevant or useful than the site’s own meta description or content.
DMOZ data was initially integrated into a service known as the “Google Directory”. Google eventually discontinued this directory service in 2011.
Because the use of this data was integrated into Google’s search algorithms, webmasters were provided with a way to opt out of having their site’s DMOZ description used in search snippets through the NOODP meta tag directive.
The use of DMOZ data was at Google’s discretion. Even years after Google officially stopped using DMOZ for its directory, it was observed that the search engine occasionally continued to pull snippets from the outdated directory, a practice which Google representatives later attributed to legacy code rather than an active agreement or strategic plan.
Google officially ceased using DMOZ for search result snippets following the directory’s permanent closure in 2017.
And, the more cynical will say that the above explains how to feed off and destroy a ‘competitor’!
Whilst this was going on I was running a few highly successful niche directories until that one fateful day when Google’s Penguin rolled into town and pulled the plug on all private directories – accusing them of being link farms with low quality content.
Google’s stance has consistently been that any directory created primarily for the purpose of passing link equity (SEO value) rather than providing genuine user utility is a violation of their spam policies.
Google gradually trained their systems to identify and ignore links from sites that served no purpose other than storing a list of links.
By focusing on “Helpful Content” and high-quality, unique signals, Google naturally pushed purely directory-style sites further down in the rankings.
In summary, 2012 serves as the most important year for this shift, as it marked the introduction of the Penguin update and the Disavow tool, which essentially ended the era where directory submissions were a standard practice for search optimization.
What Helped After Penguin:
Morphing directory content into WordPress posts worked for a while.
Providing description boxes allowing up to 1000 words of content worked for a while.
The proliferation of directory plugins available in the WordPress Repository must point to the fact that some sites still see value in runnig a directory but, as in the past, your directory has to be highly specialised niche content supported by other ‘normal’ content to keep the Search Engines ‘interested’.
The Great Experiment:
I have had a niche content site running for over a decade now – https://rugbysearch.co.za – and have recently deployed a directory there.
The directory has been envisioned as one that will show readers essential info about the resource, latest articles from the site listed (where applicable), essential contact info and a live web site preview – essentially all the info readers need before making a decision to visit a site or not.
Tools We Are Using:
These three give us the ability to showcase rugby related web sites in one place whilst allowing readers to see a fairly comprehensive essential review of the listing before clicking through. Things that we would like to see from Search Engines and AI going ahead.
Give it a whirl and see what you think!
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