How many clones of DMOZ are there?

and why do they do it?

[stevenha]

Has anybody figured out how many websites use copies of DMOZ directory pages? I was astonished to see how many there are, and I gave up couting.

Most of them had PR1 or 0, but some were higher.

Why do people do this? I don't understand the logic behind it.

[caine]

try google > i think it rates its clone a little higher than pr>1

[WindSun]

A lot of them use only selected portions of ODP, and try to make it appear that they are a real directory.
Why?.. hm.. good question...

[chiyo]

they do it add content to their site when they dont have much.

You can look like you have a large directory by using simple perl scripts without having to downlaod it all. Its one of the simplest way to make a nothing site look like something to the naive surfer. Many wannabe search engines use the ODP to flesh out their few entries to millions, while they build their own directory. Problem is 99% never do add any original content and the site just dies and becomes another bit of litter on the internet highway

[hbird64]

The clones:

[dmoz.org...]

Hugo
Snip, no sigs please

[edited by: NFFC at 9:45 am (utc) on June 13, 2002]

[The Contractor]

They do it for reasons listed by WindSun and chiyo. I have seen sites that do this in with PR in the 6-8 range. It can take years to build a directory of any real value and this gives you instant success in the eyes of someone viewing your site. It makes them look pretty important right from the start :)

I have thought about testing a site using a DMOZ dump just to see how people responded compared to scratching for every listing.

[stevenha]

Thanks everyone above.

A follow-up question... Anyone care to speculate about the effect on Google PageRank, caused by cloned DMOZ pages?

Assume that hundreds of sites have a cloned copy of a DMOZ page which links to your site. Assume that most of them have low PageRank, with lots at PR0. If enough of the PR0 clone pages are linking to you, might that have a negative effect to your page?... (if the minority's hypothesis is true, that enough incoming links from PR0 sites could trigger a penalty.) Comments?

[The Contractor]

<<If enough of the PR0 clone pages are linking to you, might that have a negative effect to your page?... (if the minority's hypothesis is true, that enough incoming links from PR0 sites could trigger a penalty.) Comments?>>

If this were true I could get a domain and put a thousand links to my competition and get them penalized.

No,it will not hurt you at all in my opinion.

[Dpeper]

Contractor I think your on to something ;)

[fathom]

Actually I don't believe it makes a different.

Once PR0 is assigned, it's spit out of Google and not indexed. So no affect would be recorded. If google held on to these it might be possible.

Have a client that started with a PR2, submitted to OPD (multiple pages), and the clones quickly gobble them up.

Use AllTheWeb to find them and whenever a grey bar appears, Oh!... submit to Google.com.

Many get PR0 immediately, but found lots with PR3 - PR7 that google previously didn't know about.

Client now at PR6 in just over two month.

A little like weeding the garden!