AOL now powered by Inktomi

ODP way down

[heini]

As Pandia reports today [pandia.com], AOL.com has switched from using primarily ODP results to Inktomi.
ODP results only appear at the bottom of the Serps.

[Crazy_Fool]

i'm wondering if other engines (inc google) will dump the ODP as well. there is a severe shortage of editors and the directory simply isn;t being updated enough. it doesn't help that people who apply to become dmoz editors keep getting turned away.

[Eric_Lander]

I would consider myself very intelligent and unbiased with a particular automobile, and it's mechanics and so on... I tried to become an editor there starting about 10 months ago, and every month I attempt again (sometimes with different emails thinking it may matter). It doesn't change...

ODP is, in my opinion, on a decline.

I also believe that AOL is smart to make a move such as this. With the number of users from AOL alone - ODP had reason to keep things "fresh" (Sorry Google.. NO pun intented!). They just seem to fail in delivering timely responses, and I don't think any engine can deal well with that.

Anyways, just my experience and $0.02. But a good thing indeed.

~ Eric

[littleman]

Inktomi overtaking ODP results a good thing?? Not if you care about the integrity of the web.

This switch has everything to do with Inktomi's reverse revenue model. Pushing Ink to the top makes AOL more money..

[toolman]

At least you have a fighting chance with INK results. No competitor/trolls/editors standing in the way or locking down the categories at ODP.

[pageoneresults]

Hmmm, and AOl owns the ODP. What are they up to? I'll agree with everyone that the ODP is not what it was a year ago. I too have had numerous rejections at becoming a category editor. They request your participation and then consistently reject your requests. What kind of model is that?

Should we say "good-bye to the ODP" or is this a temporary set back for them?

[NFFC]

>fighting chance with INK results. No competitor/trolls/editors standing in the way or locking down

LOL, shall we agree that ODP has a lower spam threshold than Ink? :)

[toolman]

>>>shall we agree that ODP has a lower spam threshold than Ink?

::gasp:: Are you insinuating that I'm a spammer? I'm flattered. ;)

Actually there is a lesser degree of broad based spam in the ODP...it's all pretty much concentrated on the editors own spam sites.

[pageoneresults]

LOL, shall we agree that ODP has a lower spam threshold than Ink?

Even Mom's search engine down the street has a lower spam threshold than Ink! I was performing searches yesterday and found many instances of duplicate content spread across multiple domains. How obvious was it? The same title and description for each SERP all leading to different URL's.

When Ink switched to the paid model, the spam junkies came out of the closet! Its still a great testing grounds for traditional (no-spam) optimization. Pages that I designed years ago are still holding top ten positions. New ones that I add today are jumping into the top ten within 48-72 hours.

[JonB]

toolman: you said it!

dump the ODP ,every SE dump them! They dont like me and i never liked them! :)

Now lets wait to see what aol brings in the future.

Are the results already from ink and not ODP? Does anyone see any jump/fall in visitors?

But this is still unchanged:
[search.aol.com...]

[NFFC]

>you insinuating that I'm a spammer? I'm flattered.

Not at all, just that you need to read the DMOZ guidelines, become one with them, learn to love them. :)

[toolman]

>>>learn to love them

I wish the competitor/troll/editors would do the same.

I've never liked the ODP anyway...the results are dated and the overall user experience is very poor.

I'm glad to see the playing field has become level for AOL. Anyone who can type their keywords 50 times in a row has just as much of a chance as the next guy....and within days... not weeks or months for your main competitor/troll/editor to lolligag on your listing whilst they rake in the dough.

[ggrot]

Well, I wonder if this will have any effect on zeal at any point in the future.

[Laisha]

Well, I wonder if this will have any effect on zeal at any point in the future.

I'm lost. Why would it?

[diddlydazz]

That reminds me I must go edit :)

Dazz

[physics]

Damn! I'll miss the referrals! Also, always slept better at night knowing that the hordes of people using Windows and AOL were being fed search results from an open source community ;). However, I am still angry at the powers that be at da ODP that reject so many qualified editors.:(

Oh my goodness... I was just checking some search results:
math help [search.aol.com] at aol.com
Look at the garbage that comes up. There are at least 5 adult sites. This is just sick... :( Ugh... do you know how many middle school kids search for that term?

[starec]

>ODP is, in my opinion, on a decline
Fully agree. The only reason I care about it is the support it gives to Google listings.

Google will sooner follow wisenut, teoma and develop its own categorization method and then the odp importance will be really minimal.

[makemetop]

>Look at the garbage that comes up. There are at least 5 adult sites..

I couldn't see any - or is it just me?

[Mike_Mackin]

I couldn't see any either MMT

[JonB]

hm,from 1-55 there are no adults sites unless they are faking description and domains.

[ebgreen]

Does anyone know for sure if this is a permanent chnage?