austtr - 1:03 am on Jul 20, 2007 (gmt 0)

Why do we continue to rehash the DMOZ saga over and over again, with the inevitable angst that always seems to accompany such discussions?

Because its free and the belief that Google rewards sites that have been able to make it into DMOZ.... right? Remove Google from the equation and there would be the same number as posts as we see for BOTW, Skaffe, JoeAnt, Ezilon and all the other global directories.... ie... virtually none.

Why not challenge that assumption and try to establish if Google does in fact reward DMOZ listed sites? In my experience sites not in DMOZ get the same amount of traffic as similar sites not listed in DMOZ. The DMOZ link is just a link like any other from a PR0 page.

I know that in my area (regional) the number of DMOZ listed sites have not increased in years and those that are still there fall a long way short of being a selection of the best available. Similar scenarios apply to other regional cats.

But that is a quality control issue for DMOZ and if they don't address it, it is inevitable that parts of DMOZ will become increasingly irrelevant.... just like any other under populated and out of date directory.

Why would Google continue to give extra credibility to DMOZ listings if that continues to be the case?