Quadrille - 9:24 am on Feb 10, 2007 (gmt 0)

There are always fine exceptions to general rules; that does not invalidate the general rules.

The advice being given here is given to protect the webmaster who is trying to assess a 'safe' and useful place to submit their Pride & Joy to.

Of course, as directories are created by human beings there will be a variety ... and so there should be. But I stand by everything I've said - and 90% of the advice given by others in this thread.

CainIV - by the sound of it, you have a directory to be proud of - but I am sure that you would admit that the vast majority of directories ARE cr*p - especially those that ask for a link back. I'd suggest to you that you'd almost certainly lose nothing by NOT doing that; I'll bet you don't need to :)

No-one in this thread has suggested that using adsense is bad; it's a matter of HOW it is used; passing off adsense as category content isn't very nice (!), and squeezing the content off the visible page suggests the directory does not value that content.

But it would be a mistake to look at all this advice as a checklist; get the 'big picture'; if the directory looks good, but misses on one point, it's not the end of the world. If a directory falls down on several points, it must raise doubts.

It's all about choice; my favorite directories are those that put the 'user' (ie the searcher) first. Some directories that are built for webmasters are OK (often more by luck that planning!), but I have no time for directories that exist simply to make money for the owner. And you can usually spot them quite quickly.

Comparing SEs and Directories is chalk and cheese; the web is waaay too big for directories map it all (as ODP well knows), and SEs are not about to disappear. But plenty of us still use them, especially in niches and localities.

A year ago, directories had a very bad name, due to the tens of thousands of spam directories that grew out of the link farm fad; that craze is over, but the rehabilitation won't be complete until *everybody* knows the difference between Quality Directories and cr*p directories.